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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of 
Philip  H.  Waddell  Smith 
BS  2361  .F352  1904         ^ 
Falconer,  Robert  A.  1867- 
1943. 
—  The  truth  of  the  apostolic 
aosDel 


^^^^^^^yyr^ 


THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC 
GOSPEL 


,^j;»rorpft(^ 


The    Truth \-- 


J^osiiMiii^ 


OF  THE 


APOSTOLIC    GOSPEL 


BY 


Principal 
R.   A.    Falconer,    D.    Litt 


New  York: 

The  International  Committee  of  Young   Men's 

Christian  Associations 

1904 


Copyrighted,  1904, 

BY 

The  International  Committee 

OF 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


The  aim  of  this  course  is  much  less  pretentious  than  to  furnish  a 
complete  system  of  Christian  apologetic.  In  accordance  with  the  re- 
quest which  was  made  of  him,  the  author  has  simply  drawn  up  a  series 
of  studies,  as  far  as  might  be  from  the  New  Testament  itself,  for  the 
purpose  of  setting  forth  the  essence  and  strength  of  the  Gospel  which 
is  its  heart.  While  the  difficulties  of  the  college  student  have  been  kept 
steadily  in  view,  it  is  hoped  that  others  may  find  equally  well  that  these 
pages  help  them  to  understand  some  of  the  convincing  reasons,  which  we 
have  to-day  more  than  ever,  for  believing  in  the  truth  of  the  Apostolic 
Gospel.  The  New  Testament  in  Modern  Speech,  by  Richard  Francis 
Weymouth,  may  be  recommended  as  a  useful  aid  for  these  studies. 


CONTENTS 


Introductory.     Study  i.     Attitude  and  Sources. 


Page 
I 


Part  I.     The  Phenomena  of  the  New  Testament. 


Study 

Study 

Study 

Study 

Study 

Study 

Study 

Study 

Study  ID 

Study  II 


The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood  ....  ii 

A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ     ....  i8 

The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 25 

The  Sense  of  Power  in  the  Brotherhood     .  32 

The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation  .  39 

The  Ethical  Ideal  of  the  New  Character    .  46 

The  Christian  Ideal  of  Domestic  Life    .     .  53 

The  Christian  in  Public  Life 60 

Great  Personalities 67 

The  Christian  Literature— The  New  Testa- 
ment       74 


Part  II. 


The   New    Testament  Explanation  of  the  Foregoing 
Phenofnena — The  Apostolic  Gospel. 

The  Gospel 83 

The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 90 

The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels— His  Claim    .     .  '  97 

The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles  ....  104 

The  Manifold  Gospel "i 


Study  12. 
Study  13. 
Study  14. 
Study  15. 
Study  16. 


Part  III.      The  Credibility  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel. 


Study  17. 
Study  18. 

Study  19. 
Study  20. 


The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels      .     .  121 
The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels  (con- 
tinued)        128 

The  Christ  of  the  Church i35 

The  Witness  of  the  Works  of  the  Living 

Christ 142 


INTRODUCTORY 


STUDY  1.     ATTITUDE  AND  SOURCES 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   i:     Attitude  and  Sources 


First  Day:     All  Truth  is  One  and  Spiritual 

1.  The  genuine  student  is  eager  in  the  search  for  truth.  He  believes 
that  everything  must  approve  itself  to  his  reason.  Science  has  made 
such  gigantic  strides,  and  has  by  its  magnificent  generalizations  so 
brought  home  to  the  modern  mind  the  unity  of  nature,  that  its  laws  are 
regarded  as  the  abiding  objective  truth,  whatever  be  our  likes  or  dis- 
likes, our  superstitions  or  prejudices.  Other  things  may  change,  the 
laws  of  nature  are  permanent.  For  if  our  hypotheses  have  to  be  aban- 
doned from  time  to  time,  it  is  not  the  underlying  law  which  is  supposed 
to  be  capricious,  and  we  do  not  desist  from  the  search  until  some  more 
permanent  hypothesis  is  discovered.  So  to-day  the  old  atomic  theory 
is  yielding  to  a  grander  generalization  as  to  the  structure  of  matter. 

2.  Equally  zealous  is  the  philosophic  student  to  discover  the  laws  of 
mind.  Persuaded  that  human  life  can  be  unified  and  explained  in  terms 
of  reason,  he  traces  through  the  systems  that  change  frorn  age  to  age, 
a  pervading  and  ever  clearer  principle.  Deeper  and  truer  inductions  in 
the  realm  of  pure  thought,  psychology,  or  the  process  of  history  dis- 
place the  philosophic  structures  of  the  past,  which  are  proving  too  strait 
for  the  amplitude  of  present  knowledge  and  experience. 

3.  Truth  is  a  term  that  is  too  often  narrowed  in  its  range.  Truths 
of  science  are  only  a  part  of  the  whole  of  truth ;  truths  of  philosophy  are 
only  a  part  of  the  whole  of  truth.  Both  science  and  philosophy  must 
include  in  their  survey  the  truths  of  the  other  realms  of  nature  before 
giving  forth  their  final  results  as  the  truth.  For  no  part  of  truth  can 
conflict  with  any  other  part  of  truth.  So  no  hypothesis  of  science  or 
philosophy  is  truth  if  it  clashes  with  the  largest  meaning  of  man's  life. 

4.  According  to  the  Bible  man  is  of  such  supreme  value,  his  essen- 
tial worth  is  so  great,  and  his  destiny  so  glorious,  that  the  world  of 
nature  is  merely  the  stage  on  which  man's  character  is  disciplined  (Ps. 
8:3-9;  Matt.  6:32,  33;  16:26;  24:35;  John  1:1-4,  10;  17 :5..  24;^  Eph. 
1:4;  Heb.  4:3).  Nature  is  regarded  as  sympathetic  to  the  crises  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  (Ps.  104:1-10;  Matt.  24:29-31;  Rom.  8:19-22). 
Therefore  since  the  purposes  of  God  for  the  kingdom  of  humanity  are 
supreme,  no  scientific  or  philosophic  theory  can  be  correct  which  con- 
flicts with  the  principles  of  God's  moral  rule.  Truth  must  in  its  last 
issue  have  a  spiritual  interpretation. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   i:    Attitude  and  Sources 


Second  Day:     Faith  a  Universal  Principle  of  Life 


1.  Faith  is  a  word  which  is  greatly  misunderstood.  Many  suppose 
it  to  be  confined  to  the  domain  of  religion.  But  this  is  not  so.  All 
scientific  deductions  presuppose  faith.  We  believe  that  we  are  justified 
in  formulating  a  law  on  the  basis  of  a  large  number  of  similar  events 
having  taken  place.  This,  however,  rests  on  the  assumption  that  nature 
is  uniform — to  our  minds  a  perfectly  reasonable  postulate.  Similarly 
we  assume  that  our  faculties  may  be  trusted.  Indeed  we  conduct  our 
life  on  the  principle  that  Reason  is  the  supreme  Director  of  existence. 
This  is  faith. 

2.  Therefore  the  highest  form  of  faith  must  be  reliance  on  the  truest 
principles  of  Reason.  Now  we  are  conscious  that  our  moral  and  spirit- 
ual nature  is  our  noblest  possession.  We  find  then  the  supreme  Reason 
in  that  which  harmonizes  our  experience  and  coordinates  our  life  in 
their  widest  range.  Just  as  we  trust  our  faculty  of  pure  thought  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  truths  of  natural  science  or  of  the  mind,  so  we 
trust  our  moral  and  spiritual  faculty  to  manifest  to  us  the  truth  of  the 
spiritual  realm.  We  assume  that  religious  faith  ushers  us  into  the 
highest  truth  of  all,  the  knowledge  of  a  personal  God  whose  fellowship 
satisfies  the  most  persistent  longings  of  our  hearts.  It  would  be  irra- 
tional not  to  make  this  assumption  (Heb.  ii :  1-3,  27). 

3.  Religion  is  the  crown  of  life.  It  is  that  act  of  our  manhood  in 
the  exercise  of  its  fullest  powers  of  thought,  will  and  affection,  whereby 
we  enter,  transient  and  feeble  creatures  though  we  seem  to  be,  into  con- 
scious fellowship  with  the  eternal  God.  From  Him  alone  life  has  any 
meaning.  Our  reason  compels  us  to  believe  that  His  will  directs  all 
things,^  and  therefore  that  we  should  obey  Him.  "In  His  will  is  our 
peace."  The  Bible  always  assumes  that  there  is  a  righteous  God,  that 
man  is  a  responsible  being,  and  knows  the  difference  between  right  and 
wrong.  Man  shares  the  knowledge  of  God  in  His  conscience.  He  can 
know  the  truth  and  therefore  is  in  duty  bound  to  exercise  faith  (Acts 
14:15-17;  17-22-31  ;  Rom.  I  :  18-25). 

A  fine  treatment  of  this  subject  is  to  be  found  in  "Reason  and  Revela- 
tion," by  J.  R.  Illingworth. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   i:     Attitude  and   Sources 


Third  Day  :     The  Truth  of  the  Gospel  is  Self-Evident 


1.  Just  as  there  are  certain  truths  of  natural  science  and  philosophy 
which  by  elucidation  become  obvious,  so  there  are  truths  of  religion 
which  intrinsically  constrain  those  who  are  healthy-minded  to  believe 
them.  Throughout  the  New  Testament  it  is  assumed  that  the  Gospel  is 
such  a  body  of  truth  (Mark  1:15).  The  gospel  is  proclaimed  as  the 
truth  which  brings  life  eternal  (John  14:6;  Rom.  6:17,  22).  Jesus 
expresses  surprise  that  men  do  not  accept  His  gospel  (Mark  6:6),  but 
neither  He  nor  His  disciples  use  any  compulsory  methods  for  spreading 
it.  The  truth  will  win  its  way  in  the  hearts  of  men  (John  18:37).  No 
attempt  is  made  to  preach  any  gospel  which  does  not  appeal  to  men's 
faculty  for  discerning  truth.  Facts  are  stated  in  a  most  positive  manner, 
and  mysteries  are  revealed  in  full  confidence  that  they  will  meet  with 
a  response  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

2.  How  came  it  then  that  many  did  not  believe  Christ?  If  the  gospel 
is  the  truth  of  life,  why  does  not  everyone  accept  it?  The  New  Testa- 
ment accounts  for  this  unbelief  by  the  fact  of  sin.  An  irrational  ele- 
ment has  invaded  the  moral  nature.  Sin  deceives  the  heart  (Luke  8:14, 
15;  John  3:16-21;  Eph.  4:17,  18;  Heb.  3:13;  James  1:15).  If  men 
refused  to  follow  Jesus  it  was  because  the  truth  of  His  life,  the  strength 
and  beauty  of  His  character,  and  the  glory  of  His  message  could  not 
counteract  their  sinful  love  of  this  world.  This  is  the  only  reason  the 
gospels  offer  for  such  incomprehensible  conduct. 

3.  A  truly  moral  man  must  be  religious,  for  there  is  none  good  but 
one,  that  is  God  (Mark  10:18),  and  the  religious  nature  craves  for  fel- 
lowship with  Him.  We  need  not  deny  that  we  can  learn  of  God  through 
the  truths  of  nature  and  philosophy,  for  God  is  immanent  in  the  world, 
but  our  souls  thirst  for  the  living  God.  The  classic  expression  of  this 
yearning  is  found  in  the  Old  Testament  Psalms  (16;  42:1,  2;  116:4-7). 
Our  human  reason  is  not  satisfied  till  it  finds  rest  in  the  love  of  God 
our  Holy  Father.  Now  the  heart  of  the  gospel  is  that  it  brings  to  men 
the  assurance  of  eternal  life  in  fellowship  with  Him  who  is  the  Truth 
(Matt.  11:27-30;  John  14:23;  16:33;  Rom.  8:31-39). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   i:    Attitude  and  Sources 


Fourth  Day:     What  Manner  of  Man  is  the  Searcher 
After  Truth? 


1.  What  are  the  qualifications  of  him  who  would  investigate  the 
truth  of  the  gospel?  First,  he  must  accept  the  testimony  of  the  moral 
nature  of  man  as  leading  him  up  to  God.  The  gospel  itself  is  one  of  the 
strongest  evidences  of  the  being  of  God,  and  should  strengthen  the 
wavering  belief  in  God  of  any  one  whose  moral  nature  is  not  atrophied. 
Truth  must  be  loved;  Sin  must  be  abhorred;  and  longing  to  escape  from 
the  sin  which  estranges  us  from  God,  the  truthseeker  must  cry,  Create 
in  me  a  clean  heart  (Ps.  51). 

2.  The  world  must  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  a  personal  God. 
The  Kingdom  of  God  is  the  crown  of  creation,  therefore  all  life  leads 
up  to  and  prepares  for  that  eternal  purpose.  This  is  a  demand  of  our 
religious  nature.  It  is  an  assumption  in  the  Bible.  Therefore  the  laws 
of  physical  science  cannot  be  erected  into  an  absolute  standard  of  truth, 
irrespective  of  the  higher  necessities  of  man's  religious  nature.  The 
moral  facts  of  life  must  be  considered  before  the  laws  of  nature  are 
formulated,  and  man's  spiritual  destiny  is  as  imperious  in  its  conditions 
as  is  his  physical  environment.  Hence  the  worthy  student  of  the  gos- 
pel must  divest  himself  of  rigid  theories,  as  for  example  that  miracles 
cannot  happen.  This  may  be  prejudice  from  insufficient  induction  cov- 
ering only  one  department  of  life.  Whatever  best  furthers  the  purpose 
of  God's  love  for  man  is  reasonable.  Therefore  we  must  approach  the 
supernatural  in  the  New  Testament  with  an  open  mind. 

3.  The  genuine  searcher  after  truth  must  be  a  man  of  prayer. 
Prayer  is  simply  intercourse  with  God.  It  is  an  opening  of  the  heart  to 
receive  His  Spirit,  who  purifies  by  His  presence  the  remotest  corners 
of  our  thought.  We  cultivate  the  best  that  is  in  us  by  fellowship  with 
our  friends,  enlarging  our  hearts,  quickening  our  minds,  refining  our 
natures  thereby.  Friendship  grows  with  practice.  So  the  culture  of  the 
soul  demands  fellowship  with  our  best  Friend.  By  prayer  we  rejoice 
in  the  love  of  God.  Prayer  is  the  soul's  avenue  into  the  Truth  (Luke 
6 :  12 ;  9 :  29 ;  i  Thess.  5:17;  Eph.  6 :  10-18) . 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   i:     Attitude  and  Sources 


Fifth   Day  :     The   Conservative   Position   with   Respect 
TO  the  New  Testament 


1.  At  the  opening  of  our  studies  we  are  confronted  with  this  ques- 
tion ;  Is  there  any  certain  ground  in  the  New  Testament  on  which  we 
can  take  our  stand  in  order  to  examine  the  nature  and  validity  of  the 
Apostolic  Gospel?  Has  not  recent  criticism  wrought  such  havoc  with 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  that  to  start  from  them  as  they  are 
would  be  to  begin  with  an  assumption  which  would  be  challenged  at 
once?  There  is,  it  is  true,  an  extreme  school  whose  scepticism  will 
allow  them  to  accept  very  little  in  the  New  Testament  as  authentic, 
but  this  school  is  so  small  and  unimportant  that  it  would  serve  no  pur- 
pose for  us  to  refer  to  their  conclusions. 

2.  It  is  unnecessary  in  these  studies  to  make  an  independent  ex- 
amination of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  in  order  to  determine  the 
author  of  each,  the  date,  and  the  readers;  for  our  results  would  be  re- 
jected in  part  at  least  by  men  who,  one  would  fain  hope,  might  agree 
with  our  main  conclusions.  The  writer  of  these  studies  is  of  opinion 
that  the  conservative  positions  with  respect  to  the  New  Testament  are 
justifying  themselves  more  and  more  under  the  scrutiny  of  the  most 
careful  scholarship.  Widespread  early  tradition  is  in  general  found 
to  yield  the  most  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  origin  of  these  writings. 

3.  Conservative  critics  believe  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
are  well  within  the  first  century,  and  present  in  their  present  form  a 
thoroughly  credible  account  of  the  life  and  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
of  the  work  of  His  Spirit  among  His  disciples  in  the  primitive  Church. 
They  hold  that  three  apostolic  sources  are  represented  in  our  four  gos- 
pels, and  that  of  these  the  Gospel  of  John  at  least  was  written  by  an 
eye-witness.  Acts  is  regarded  as  the  work  of  a  companion  of  Paul,  and 
therefore  a  reliable  history,  and  the  epistles  are  assigned  to  the  authors 
whose  names  they  carry.  Of  all  the  epistles  2  Peter  is  the  only  one 
which  is  seriously  questioned  by  scholars  who  represent  the  conserva- 
tive standpoint,  and  on  this  opinion  is  greatly  divided.  Perhaps  the 
recent  Bible  Dictionary,  edited  l3y  Dr.  James  Hastings,  may  be  taken  as 
a  standard  for  the  conservative  position  with  regard  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment. This  appears  to  be  the  attitude  of  the  majority  of  the  foremost 
English-speaking  scholars. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   I :     Attitude  and  Sources 


Sixth   Day:     The    Conservative   Scholar   is   not   Neces- 
sarily Less  Scientific  than  the  Radical 

1.  But  in  many  minds  there  is  an  uneasy  suspicion  that  the  conserva- 
tive point  of  view  is  unscientific.  The  radical  school  is  particularly 
urgent  in  preferring  this  charge.  There  is,  however,  no  reason  why 
the  scientific  spirit  should  be  the  peculiar  possession  either  of  radical 
or  conservative.  What  is  the  scientific  spirit?  It  is  one  which  weighs 
facts  and  evidence  in  the  most  impartial  manner,  and  then  by  the  use 
of  good  judgment  assigns  the  relative  values  to  such  facts  and  evi- 
dence. Von  Ranke  said  that  he  would  base  his  history  only  on  what 
actually  happened.  But  this  is  an  ideal  towards  which  only  the  greatest 
of  historians  even  approximate,  for  the  most  delicate  discernment  is 
required  to  sift  the  original  facts  from  the  interpretations  which  have 
been  put  upon  the  facts  from  the  very  moment  of  their  happening,  and 
to  estimate  the  truth  or  error  of  a  tradition. 

2.  Two  scholars  approach  the  New  Testament  as  two  judges  who 
are  to  try  a  case  in  law.  The  same  evidence  is  presented  to  both,  but  it 
appeals  very  diiTerently  to  each,  and  their  judgments  differ.  These  two 
scholars  bring  with  them  different  convictions  or  prepossessions.  One 
is  professedly  a  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour  from 
sin,  to  whom  by  a  miracle  of  grace  he  owes  all  that  is  of  value  in  his 
own  life.  To  this  Christ  he  prays  every  day,  and  he  believes  that  His 
Spirit  is  moulding  his  character.  The  New  Testament  is  the  book  on 
which  he  feeds  his  spiritual  life,  for  in  it  he  finds  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
the  record  of  His  life  he  discovers  that  which  satisfies  the  deepest  needs 
of  his  soul.  The  other  scholar  has  little  satisfaction  in  the  Christian 
view  of  God  and  the  world,  or  if  he  accepts  the  Christian  view  of  God 
as  a  loving  Father,  he  is  repelled  by  the  apostolic  conception  of  the 
person  of  Christ,  believes  that  Jesus  could  not  have  been  more  than  a 
man,  and  is  so  imbued  with  the  naturalistic  spirit  that  he  practically 
could  not  be  persuaded  by  almost  any  available  evidence  that  miracles 
can  have  happened. 

3.  Now,  neither  of  these  is  necessarily  more  scientific  than  the  other. 
The  impartiality  and  judgment  of  each  is  to  be  deterniined  by  the  way 
in  which  the  evidence  is  dealt  with.  The  conservative  scholar  shows 
his  scientific  spirit  and  his  unbiassed  search  for  truth  by  his  willing- 
ness to  investigate  the  grounds  of  his  belief,  and  his  ability  to  discern 
what  in  them  is  essential  or  unessential.  The  one  axiom  is  that  his  re- 
ligious life  is  supreme,  and  his  intellect  therefore  will  not  permit  him 
to  surrender  any  facts  or  beliefs  that  are  of  its  essence.  But  this  is 
truly  scientific,  for  his  religious  life  itself  has  to  be  accounted  for. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   i:     Attitude  and  Sources 


Seventh   Day:     The   Method  and   Position   Adopted  in 
These  Studies 

1.  Our  aim  is  to  consider  the  phenomena  of  the  New  Testament  as 
a  whole.  Therefore  we  shall  not  assume  the  correctness  of  the  con- 
servative view.  But  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  take  for  granted  certain 
positions,  which  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  except  those  extreme 
radicals,  whom  we  may  safely  leave  out  of  consideration  at  present, 
though  they  will  not  be  accepted  by  conservative  scholars  as  an  ade- 
quate account  of  the  New  Testament. 

2.  We  shall  study  the  Christian  life  of  the  period  covered  by  the 
main  body  of  the  New  Testament  as  a  definite  historical  manifestation, 
the  salient  features  of  which  will  be  brought  under  review  in  order  to 
discover  if  possible  their  essential  meaning  and  motive  power;  and  our 
interest  will  be  concentrated  on  the  social,  moral,  and  religious  condi- 
tions of  the  epoch  as  a  whole,  rather  than  on  the  detailed  progress 
within  the  period. 

3.  For  this  purpose  we  shall  assume,  as  with  good  reason  we  may, 
that:  (i)  These  Pauline  epistles  are  undoubtedly  genuine — i  Thessa- 
lonians,  Galatians,  i  and  2  Corinthians,  and  Romans.  They  were  written 
not  earlier  than  45  A.  D.,  nor  later  than  59  A.  D. 

(2)  Philippians,  Colossians,  Philemon  almost  certainly,  and  Ephe- 
sians  very  probably,  were  written  by  Paul  not  later  than  64  A.  D.,  and 
may  be  employed  for  depicting  the  life  of  the  Church  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  first  century.  Indeed  we  may  in  ordinary  cases  use 
them  as  sources  for  Pauline  thought. 

(3)  At  the  basis  of  our  synoptic  gospels  there  lie  two  apostolic 
sources — a  Petrine,  embodied  chiefly  in  Mark  and  reproduced  in  our 
Matthew  and  Luke — and  a  collection  of  discourses  of  Jesus  attributed 
to  the  Apostle  Matthew.  These  were  written  down  before  70  A.  D. 
Our  present  synoptic  gospels,  containing  these  sources  as  their  chief 
material,  were  composed  independently  of  one  another  not  later  than 
90  A.  D. 

(4)  The  Book  of  Acts,  the  Apocalypse,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
the  pastoral  epistles,  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  the  Catholic  epistles  (with 
the  exception  of  2  Peter)  were  in  existence  not  much  later  than  125 
A.  D.  Most  of  them  were  probably  written  before  the  end  of  the  first 
century,  and  First  Peter,  like  Ephesians,  may  confidently  be  used  for 
apostolic  doctrine.  (See  B.  W.  Bacon's  Introduction  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment.) 

4.  These  books  bear  witness  to  the  existence  between  45  and  125 
A.  D.  of  a  new  type  of  character,  ideals  and  belief.  It  is  hoped  that 
our  studies  of  these  phenomena  may  serve  to  show  that  the  apostolic 
gospel  is  true,  because  it  is  a  reasonable  and  sufficient  explanation  of 
the  origin  and  progress  of  this  Christian  life  and  belief. 


PART  I. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


First  Day:     Rapid  Growth  in  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Worlds 

1.  One  of  the  most  striking  phenomena  in  history  is  the  appearance 
of  the  community  of  believers  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Messiah  of 
Israel  and  Son  of  God  (Acts  2:36),  and  their  rapid  extension  through 
the  Roman  world  during  the  first  century  of  our  era.  Though  the 
leaven  at  work  in  Jerusalem  by  30  A.  D.  was  a  very  small  particle,  its 
fermenting  activity  was  marvelous. 

2.  Owing  to  the  vagueness  of  early  chronology  an  estimate  of  the 
rapidity  of  growth  is  necessarily  uncertain,  but  the  martyrdom  of 
Stephen  and  the  early  life  of  Paul  prove  that  the  new  religion  soon 
produced  a  profound  impression  on  the  Jewish  world.  Would  a  man  of 
the  standing  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  have  spent  his  energy  in  making  havoc 
of  a  sect  which  might  be  despised?  (Gal.  1:13,  14.)  Proof  of  the 
anxiety  .on  the  part  of  the  hierarchy  lest  the  Nazarenes  might  pervert 
the  populace  is  afforded  by  their  summary  method  with  Stephen  (Acts 
6:12;  7:54—8:3). 

3.  Stephen's  death  brought  the  new  religion  to  a  parting  of  the 
ways.  Henceforth  the  Nazarenes  cannot  remain  a  mere  sect  of  Judaism. 
Persecution  scatters  far  and  wide  the  seed  of  the  Word,  which  springs 
up  in  Samaria,  the  coast  region,  and  Damascus  (Acts  8:4;  9:3iff. ; 
10:  iff).  The  new  churches,  however,  are  still  of  the  same  type  as  the 
mother  church  at  Jerusalem,  Hebraic  rather  than  Hellenistic  in  spirit, 
the  converts  being,  it  is  probable,  almost  entirely  born  Jews,  though 
there  were  also  some  proselytes. 

4.  How  should  we  expect  the  Church  to  grow?  By  the  initiative 
of  the  apostles?  It  was  not  so.  (See  Acts  11:19-21.)  The  gospel  was 
carried  to  various  parts  of  the  world  as  God  through  the  circumstances 
of  life  might  lead.  Thus  it  is  probable  that  brethren  of  no  eminence 
among  the  original  circle  founded  the  churches  of  Rome  and  Alexandria, 
as  they  certainly  did  that  of  Antioch,  which  became  the  mother  church 
of  Gentile  Christianity  (Acts  11:20). 

5.  The  immense  success  of  Gentile  missions  forced  a  new  problem 
upon  the  Church,  which  is  the  leading  motive  of  the  earlier  epistles  of 
Paul  (see  esp.  Gal.  2:1-12;  cf.  Acts  15:1,  22).  Were  the  Gentiles  to 
be  received  by  the  Jewish  Christians  without  circumcision  as  brethren 
on  equal  terms?  The  rapid  inflow  of  Gentile  converts  made  the  dif- 
ficulty acute,  for  they  threatened  to  deprive  Jerusalem  and  the  Jewish 
Christians  of  their  preeminence.  Its  solution  is  a  fine  tribute  to  the 
reality  of  their  brotherly  spirit. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Second  Day  :    The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire  During 
THE  First  Century 

1  Paul  the  missionary  statesman  becomes  through  his  conversion 
the'apostle  to  the  Gentiles  (Gal.  1:16;  cf.  Acts  9:15;  22:21),  and  sets 
his  face  towards  the  west  (Rom.  1:13)-  His  purpose  led  him  along 
the  great  Roman  highways  of  commerce  to  cities  where  Greek  was 
spoken  Seized  as  he  was  with  the  idea  of  the  imperial  destiny  of 
Christianity,  Paul  traversed  those  provinces  in  which  his  Roman  citi- 
zenship would  be  of  most  service,  attacking  the  civilized  centers  of  the 
world's  life,  not  the  remote  pagan  tribes;  and  with  much  success,  for 
shortly  the  brethren  are  grouped  not  only  in  city  churches,  such  as 
Ephesus,  and  Corinth,  but  under  the  Roman  provinces,  The  churches 
of  Achaia,  Macedonia"  (2  Cor.  8:1;  9:2;  see  also  i  Peter  1:1). 

2  The  outbreak  of  violent  persecution  is  another  evidence  that  the 
Church  had  grown  rapidly.  It  came  first  from  the  Jews,  and  for  years 
Paul  seems  to  have  regarded  the  Roman  Empire  as  his  protector  (Rom. 
n  •  1-7)  Is  not  this  impression  of  the  favor  of  Rome  conveyed  by  Acts  ? 
(See  Acts  25:10-12.)  But  the  favor  was  short-lived,  for  according  to 
Tacitus  (Ann.  xv.,  44).  an  immense  multitude  were  put  to  death  by 
Nero  (A  D  64)  ;  and  a  similar  policy  seems  to  have  extended  to  the 
provinces  (assuming  that  i  Peter  was  written  about  this  time),  and 
indeed  throughout  the  empire  (i  Peter  4:12;  5:9)- 

3  When  the  Apocalypse  of  John  was  written  (not  later  than  the 
ninth  decade  of  first  century),  we  have  the  terrible  picture  of  Babylon 
the  great,  the  mother  of  harlots  (Rev.  17:5,  6).  Rome  is  drunk  with 
the  blood  of  martyrs  out  of  every  nation  and  tribe.  Rev.  7:9,  14  shows 
that  the  rapid  extension  of  the  Church  had  for  some  time  seemed  to  the 
imperial  authorities  to  threaten  the  empire.  Finally  in  112  A.  D  Fhny, 
pro-consul  of  the  large  region  of  Bithynia-Pontus,  writes  to  the  h.m- 
peror  Trajan  that  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  preceding 
years  through  country,  villages,  and  cities,  was  such  that  heathen  tem- 
ples were  deserted,  and  measures  should  be  taken  to  repress  the  sect. 

4  Results  By  the  end  of  the  first  century  Christianity  has  taken 
deep  root  in  Palestine,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Rome,  Egypt,  and 
also,  it  would  appear,  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  "It  is  probable  that  the 
new  religion  spread  with  marvelous  rapidity  from  the  beginning  ot 
Paul's  preaching  in  Asia  Minor.  Unless  that  were  so,  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  the  social  condition  of  Asia  Minor  during  the  second  century 
could  have  been  produced."  (Prof.  W.  M.  Ramsay  "The  Church  in  the 
Roman  Empire,"  page  146;  see  also  Prof.  Orr's  '  Some  Neglected  Fac- 
tors in  the  Study  of  the  Early  Progress  of  Christianity.  ) 


12 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Third  Day:     The  Blending  of  Discrepant  National 
Elements  into  a  New  Unity 

I.  No  less  remarkable  than  the  rapidity  of  the  growth  of  this  brother- 
hood was  the  complexity  of  its  national  elements.  It  was  at  first  re- 
cruited chiefly  from  Jews  who  were  looking  for  the  salvation  of  Israel 
(Acts  3: 17-26).  And  nothing  but  the  work  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Gentiles  could  persuade  them  to  offer  the  gospel  to  the  uncircumcised 
(Gal.  2:8;  cf.  Acts  10:45-47;  11:17,  18).  So  exclusive  was  the  Jew 
that  the  Roman  government  found  it  necessary  to  grant  him  special 
privileges  wherever  he  settled,  always  recognizing  him  in  Asia,  or  even 
in  Alexandria  as  belonging  to  an  alien  body.  He  cherished  passionately 
the  conviction  that  his  nation  was  a  peculiar  people,  and  held  himself 
aloof  from  Gentile  defilements,  being  indeed  morally  far  superior  as 
was  admitted  by  the  numerous  proselytes  who  from  one  end  of 'the 
empire  to  the  other  associated  with  the  Jewish  worship,  because  of  the 
pure  monotheism  and  the  high  ethical  teaching  of  the  synagogue  (Acts 
10:28;  14:1;  17:4).  What  must  it  have  meant  for  a  Jewish  Christian 
to  call  an  uncircumcised  Gentile  his  brother?  (Gal.  2:3-5  )  Must  he 
not  have  regarded  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  of  quite  extraordinary  value 
when  he  was  willing  to  transfer  the  sacred  title  "Israel"  to  Gentiles 
without  pedigree,  promises,  and  often  even  noble  character^  But 
Eph.  2: 11-13  shows  that  the  fusion  was  made. 

2.  There  were  also  many  Greeks  in  this  brotherhood.  The  Greek 
was  a  man  for  whom  the  present  world  meant  a  very  great  deal 
Greece  [at  its  best  in  classic  days]  first  took  up  the  task  of  fitting  man 
with  all  that  equips  him  for  civil  life  and  promotes  his  secular  well- 
being;  of  unfolding  and  expanding  every  inborn  faculty  and  energy 
bodily  and  mental;  of  striving  restlessly  after  the  perfection  of  the 
whole,  and  finding  m  this  effort  after  an  unattainable  ideal  that  by  which 
a  man^^becomes  like  unto  the  gods"  (Butcher,  "Aspects  of  Greek 
Genius,  page  42).  But  the  Greek  had  grown  degenerate,  much  as  he 
still  professed  "distinction"  for  his  corrupt  taste.  In  the  realm  of 
morals  he  had  fallen  very  low.  Cities  like  Antioch  on  the  Orontes  were 
brilliant  but  utterly  sensual.  Life  had  no  seriousness.  The  pursuit  of 
selfish  pleasure,  and  a  spirit  of  partisanship  had  turned  the  history  of  the 
Greeks  into  a  record  of  lamentable  failure.  To  the  average  Greek  the 
gospel  for  a  world  of  sin  would  be  the  height  of  folly  (i  Cor.  i : 21-24). 
But  this  gospel  struck  seriousness  into  many  a  frivolous  Greek-  it 
made  him  count  the  glory  of  the  world  as  of  little  value  (i  John'  2- 
15-17),  and  created  in  him  a  loyalty  to  Christ  and  His  Kingdom  such 
as  no  earthly  city,  nor  empire,  nor  philosophy,  nor  ideal  of  beauty  had 
ever  evoked  (Gal.  3:28;  read  also  Acts  17:16-34;  19:23-41) 


13 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Fourth  Day:    A  Citizenship  Worthier  than  that  of 

Rome 

1.  The  Roman  citizen.  To  be  a  Roman  citizen  was  to  be  one  of  the 
lords  of  the  world.  We  can  hear  even  in  Paul  the  ringing  note  of  the 
dominant  empire,  which  was  an  immense  force  binding  the  world  to- 
gether. It  was  on  the  whole  a  beneficent  rule  under  which  unity  was 
conserved  in  the  midst  of  diversity,  and  without  restraint  upon  per- 
sonal freedom.  All  the  rights  of  the  citizen  were  safeguarded,  especially 
that  of  appeal  to  the  emperor  before  being  scourged  or  sentenced  to 
death  (Acts  22:28ff). 

2.  But  the  empire  was  essentially  a  deification  of  power.  "Worship 
is  the  duty  of  the  Roman  qua  citizen.  The  administration  of  religion  is 
a  part  of  the  civil  administration ;  the  jus  sacrum  is  a  part  of  the  jus 
civile."  Thus  any  and  every  religion  was  tolerated  which  did  not  con- 
flict with  the  ideal  of  the  state.  But  since  the  Roman  religion  was  a 
matter  more  of  public  life  than  of  private  conviction,  the  state  was  in- 
tolerant of  what  appeared  to  be  exclusive  fanaticism. 

3.  This  imperial  spirit  was  supposed  to  be  incarnate  in  the  emperor, 
who,  as  head  of  the  state,  was  given  divine  honor.  Sacrifices  were 
offered  to  his  image  as  to  a  god.  Here  a  direct  and  most  distressing 
alternative  faced  the  Christian.  He  was  bound  to  refuse  such  idolatry 
of  power,  but  in  so  doing  he  ceased  to  be  a  loyal  citizen  and  renounced 
allegiance  to  the  genius  of  the  world-wide  and,  on  the  whole,  beneficent 
empire  of  Rome.  The  unseen  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  supreme  lord- 
ship of  Jesus  Christ  must  have  appealed  to  him  with  overmastering 
power,  before  he  would  allow  himself  to  become  an  alien  to  the  empire 
of  "the  victorious  West  in  crown  and  sword  arrayed."  The  gospel  of 
Jesus  with  its  conditions  of  entrance  into  the  kingdom  (Matt.  5:3,  5) 
would  arouse  the  scorn  of  the  Roman  world,  confident  in  its  "pride  of 
life."  But  writing  from  Rome  to  a  church  in  a  proud  colonial  city  Paul 
sets  before  them  the  glory  of  being  burgesses  in  an  eternal  city-state 
(Phil.  3:20;  4:3). 

4.  The  brethren  were  drawn  from  every  nation,  tribe  and  kindred. 
In  the  outer  world  the  Roman  despised  the  Greek,  Greek  hated  Jew, 
Jew  scorned  both,  and  all  regarded  with  contempt  the  crude  pagan  from 
the  uplands  of  Asia  Minor,  devoted  to  the  orgies  of  nature  worship  and 
fretted  by  civilization.  But  out  of  all  these  was  fashioned  an  inner 
world,  whose  laws  and  ideals  were  based  on  mutual  service  and  love  to 
a  common  Lord.     (See  especially  Col.  3:1-11.) 


14 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Fifth  Day:     Recruited  from  Every  Rank  in  Society 

1.  Moreover,  every  rank  of  society  contributed  its  share  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  new  brotherhood.  We  may  assume  that  the  church  of 
Corinth  represents  the  average  Pauline  community,  for  it  was  in  a 
most  cosmopolitan  city  with  a  promiscuous  population  attracted  thither 
by  trade.  A  hint  of  its  character  is  given  in  i  Cor.  i :  26.  Though  there 
may  not  have  been  many  high-born  nor  influential  Christians,  it  is  im- 
probable that  the  majority  were  drawn  from  the  very  poor  or  the  slave 
class,  the  largest  element  belonging,  it  would  appear,  to  the  intelligent 
middle  class  engaged  in  the  ordinary  business  concerns  of  life.  Pro- 
fessor Ramsay  thinks  that  the  standard  of  intelligence  and  education 
would  reach  a  high  average.  Other  epistles  pre-suppose  similar  condi- 
tions. James  2:2-8  shows  a  church  with  commingled  elements  of  rich 
and  poor,  i  Peter  2:18;  Eph.  6 :  5ff.  address  readers  many  of  whom 
were  slaves. 

2.  But  there  are  examples  afforded  in  the  New  Testament  of  con- 
verts from  among  the  well-to-do  and  even  high-born  classes.  Colossse 
had  Philemon.  At  Corinth  itself  not  only  the  city  treasurer  (Rom.  16: 
23),  but  other  men  of  standing  were  leaders  in  the  church  (i  Cor.  16: 
15  ;  1 :  14,  15).  For  the  church  at  Antioch  see  Acts  13  :  i ;  and  one  of  the 
few  at  Athens  was  a  member  of  the  court  of  Areopagus  (Acts  17:34)- 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  through  the  imprisonment  of  Paul  (Phil.  1:13) 
the  gospel  reached  royal  circles,  for  Mommsen  asserts  that  in  the  first 
century  Christianity  had  no  firmer  hold  anywhere  than  in  the  imperial 
court. 

3.  This  is  also  borne  out  by  the  witness  of  the  Catacombs.  Many 
of  the  earliest  were  connected  with  the  noblest  families  in  Rome.  The 
Acilii,  e.  g.,  whose  gardens  and  villa  on  the  Pincian  hill  were  almost 
royal  in  their  magnificence,  were  probably  Christians,  for  "a  beautiful 
hypogseum  of  the  second  century  in  the  very  heart  of  Priscilla's  ceme- 
tery containing  the  tombstone  of  Manius  Acilius  Verus  and  Acilia 
Priscilla,  son  and  daughter  of  Manius  Acilius  Glabrio,  consul  A.  D.  152, 
proves  that  the  'noblest  among  the  noble'  had  embraced  our  faith  from 
the  first  announcement  of  the  gospel  in  Rome"  (Lanciani,  "Ruins  and 
Excavations  of  Ancient  Rome,"  page  422f.).  Possibly  Pamponia 
Grsecina,  wife  of  the  conqueror  of  Britain,  was  a  Christian,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  Flavins  Clemens,  the  consul,  cousin  of  the  Emperor 
Domitian,  was  put  to  death,  and  his  wife,  Domitilla,  Domitian's  niece, 
banished  because  they  had  espoused  the  faith.  Surely  there  were  few 
truer  disciples  or  more  obedient  to  the  demands  of  the  gospel  than 
these  (Mark  10:22,  25-31). 


15 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Sixth  Day:     The  Average  Quality  of  the  Early 
Church 

1.  We  judge  that  the  intelligence  of  churches  to  which  such  epistles 
as  the  Romans  and  Hebrews  were  written  was  of  no  mean  order,  so 
that  the  opinion  of  Schultze,  supported  as  we  have  seen  by  Professor 
Ramsay,  is  entirely  credible :  "It  was  not  the  base  elements  which  came 
into  the  Church;  but  on  the  contrary  the  better  strata  of  the  Roman 
population,  the  artificers,  the  shopkeepers,  and  small  landed  proprietors, 
therefore  preponderatingly  the  under  and  middle  portion  of  the  citizen 
class  who,  in  the  general  moral  and  religious  dissolution  of  heathenism, 
still  proved  themselves  the  soundest  classes  of  the  community"  (quoted 
by  Orr,  "Neglected  Factors,"  page  112). 

2.  But  there  were  also  many  who  had  been  profligates.  From  what 
worse  life  could  they  have  been  rescued  than  that  described  in  i  Peter 
4:2-4?  Does  not  i  Thess.  4:1-8  prove  that  the  gospel  had  to  deal  with 
many  who  had  very  inferior  moral  standards?  May  we  not  infer  from 
Rom.  6 :  18,  21  that  some  of  the  brethren  in  the  capital  had  formerly 
given  themselves  over  to  the  sensuality  of  "the  sink  of  the  world"  ? 

3.  The  world  in  which  Christianity  appeared  was  chaotic.  Frag- 
ments of  disrupted  nationalities  were  floating  in  its  eddies ;  men  were 
but  chips  on  the  stream.  There  was  no  spiritual  cohesion  of  the  parts, 
Tio  real  pity,  no  sympathy  between  class  and  class.  No  living,  throbbing 
ideal  of  a  unified  humanity  fascinated  the  conscience  of  that  world.  It 
is  true  that  the  Stoics  had  a  doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  but  it 
remained  on  the  whole  a  counsel  of  perfection  for  the  wise  man,  and 
produced  in  the  individual  no  glow  of  contagious  enthusiasm.  In  prac- 
tice the  fine  theories  of  the  manhood  of  the  slave,  and  the  freedom  of 
man  as  man  came  to  nought.  Indeed  the  Stoic  was  often  a  hard 
Pharisee.  Notwithstanding  the  religious  warmth  of  Epictetus  and  the 
moral  earnestness  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  in  spite  of  the  ethical  tone 
of  Stoicism  as  it  passed  into  practice  under  the  Romans,  it  remained  a 
philosophy.  More  than  cold  reason  was  needed  to  reach  the  springs  of 
action.  Whence  came  it  that  the  debauchee  learned  purity,  the  slave  be- 
came a  man,  Jew  greeted  Gentile,  and  the  high  born  received  the  poor 
into  his  palace  as  a  brother?  Whence  had  the  fellowship  of  love  binding 
all  into  one  its  source?  Surely  from  a  spring  which  the  heavens  bowed 
themselves  and  came  down  to  feed.     (Read  i  John  4:7-16.) 


16 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  2:    The  Rise  of  a  New  Brotherhood 


Seventh  Day  :    The  King  of  Love  and  His  City 

1.  "Christianity  abliors  isolation."  Love  is  its  essence,  for  love  is 
greater  than  faith  and  hope  (i  Cor.  13).  But  love  comes  from  God 
who  is  its  primal  fountain,  and  only  through  love  can  we  get  to  know 
Him.  The  Father  Himself  is  invisible,  and  the  proof  that  we  possess 
His  nature  is  the  indwelling  in  us  of  His  Spirit,  impelling  us  to  love 
our  brethren.  Love  is  the  antithesis  of  selfishness  (i  John  4:12-14). 
Such  love  of  the  brethren  was  a  new  phenomenon  in  the  world  because 
its  motive  is  found  in  the  redemptive  love  of  God's  Son  (John  13 : 
34»  35)- 

2.  The  brotherhood  was  not  merely  a  new  ethical  society  whose 
members  practised  love  to  one  another.  True  it  was  that  they  only 
could  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  who  did  His  commands.  But 
these  commands  were  given  by  one  who  had  died  to  save  them  from 
their  sins  (i  Peter  1:13-19).  In  the  sight  of  His  cross  the  worldly 
ambitions  and  social  distinctions  passed  away  (Gal.  6:14).  He  Himself 
who  first  loved  them  became  the  Person  who  welded  them  together, 
and  only  in  the  company  of  His  disciples,  who  loved  one  another  be- 
cause they  loved  Him,  was  the  truth  of  His  life  preserved  (John  15 : 
8-14). 

3.  "The  city  of  God,  of  which  the  Stoics  doubtfully  and  feebly  spoke, 
was  now  set  up  before  the  eyes  of  men.  It  was  no  unsubstantial  city 
such   as   we   fancy   in  the   clouds,   no  invisible   pattern   such   as   Plato 

thought  might  be  laid  up  in  heaven,  but  a  visible  corporation Here 

the  Gentile  met  the  Jew  whom  he  had  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  the 
enemy  of  the  human  race ;  the  Roman  met  the  lying  Greek  sophist,  the 
Syrian  slave  the  gladiator  born  beside  the  Danube.  In  brotherhood 
they  met,  the  natural  birth  and  kindred  of  each  forgotten,  the  baptism 
alone  remembered  in  which  they  had  been  born  again  to  God  and  to 
each  other."     ("Ecce  Homo,"  page  128.) 


17 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:    A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


First  Day  :     Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  Symbols  of 
A  Common  Life 

1.  This  brotherhood  consisted  of  societies  scattered  over  the  world. 
But  they  were  all  closely  bound  together  into  one  community  by  ties  of 
spiritual  kinship  (i  Peter  5:9).  Individual  congregations  formed  part 
of  the  one  great  Church  of  God  (i  Cor  1:2;  Gal.  1:13).  This  unity 
found  expression  in  common  sacraments,  common  meals,  fellowship,  and 
a  well-ordered  system  of  relief  for  such  of  the  brethren  as  might  be  in 
need. 

2.  Baptism.  Each  member  was  initiated  into  the  Christian  com- 
munity by  undergoing  the  rite  of  baptism,  in  which  he  made  public  con- 
fession of  Jesus  as  his  Lord  and  the  Son  of  God  (Acts  10:48;  cf.  i  John 
4:15).  They  were  all  baptized  into  Christ  (Rom.  6:3;  Gal.  3:27). 
What  was  signified  thereby?  (Rom.  6:4;  i  Peter  3.: 21).  They  were 
dead  to  their  old  life  of  sin  and  had  begun  a  new  life  in  fellowship  with 
the  risen  Christ.  Further,  a  new  spirit  was  given  them  (Acts  2:38; 
II :  16),  which  became  a  pledge  of  final  salvation  (2  Cor.  i  :2i,  22;  Eph. 
1:13,  14).  But  its  chief  significance  was  the  open  acknowledgment  of 
devotion  to  a  common  Head,  whose  Person  was  described  by  His  name, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (i  Cor.  1:10-15;  Phil.  2:9,  10),  and  in  whom  all 
believers  formed  one  body  (i  Cor.  12:12,  13).  Baptism  was  thus  a 
striking  symbol  of  unity  (Eph.  4:3-5). 

3.  The  common  meal.  Equally  symbolic  of  unity  was  the  common 
table  round  which  the  brethren  gathered  probably  every  day.  In  later 
years  the  love-feast  was  separated  from  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  it  seerns 
that  in  the  early  Church  the  daily  evening  meal  was  consecrated  in 
memory  of  their  Lord,  and  at  the  same  time  afforded  the  fullest  fellow- 
ship between  rich  and  poor,  the  brethren  being  one  in  love  to  Christ 
(i  Cor.  10:16,  17).  Very  instructive  for  the  value  of  this  sacrament 
to  that  church  is  the  severe  rebuke  which  Paul  administers  in  i  Cor.  11 : 
17-34.  The  conduct  of  the  Corinthians  was  not  only  sacrilege,  but  a 
negation  of  Christian  fellowship. 


18 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:    A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Second  Day:     Fellowship,  Hospitality,  Correspondence 

1.  Fellowship.  This  word  occurs  frequently  in  the  New  Testament 
to  cover  all  that  may  be  included  in  an  intercourse  touching  every  phase 
of  social  and  religious  life.  In  the  early  chapters  of  Acts  we  have  the 
Christian  ideal  of  fellowship,  which  is  no  communism  expressed  in 
doctrinaire  regulations,  but  springs  from  a  love  both  willing  to  share 
with  and  receive  from  others  (Acts  2:44-47;  4:34-37)-  Paul  gave  his 
readers  special  instructions  to  care  for  the  poor  (i  Cor.  13:3;  Gal.  2: 
10).  The  third  gospel  also  seems  to  emphasize  the  sympathy  of  Jesus 
for  the  poor  (Luke  19:8)  whose  example  would  be  closely  followed  by 
the  brethren.  This  fellowship,  however,  meant  more  than  relief  of  want. 
It  was  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  inducing  brotherly  kindness  (i  John 
4:7,  8,  11;  Heb.  13:16),  the  joy  of  intercourse  between  kindred  minds 
in  spiritual  concerns  (Gal.  2:9),  or  a  common  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  (Phil,  i  :3-s).  It  bound  all  Christians  together  in 
a  way  that  social  needs  or  physical  wants  could  never  have  done.  But 
this  fellowship  was  not  only  local,  it  embraced,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
Church  of  God  in  all  lands. 

2.  Hospitality.  Those  were  days  of  much  traveling.  Under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Roman  government  the  fine  highways  were  thronged  by 
commercial  men,  officials,  students  attending  the  universities,  traveling 
physicians,  lecturers.  The  crowds  were  in  fact  as  motley  as  in  our 
Western  world.  As  the  century  grew  many  Christians  would  mingle 
in  the  throng — some  on  business  or  pleasure,  many  in  haste  to  spread 
the  message  of  the  kingdom.  For  Aquila  and  Priscilla's  journeys  see 
I  Cor.  16:19;  Rom.  16:3;  Acts  18:2,  26.  Other  glimpses  of  the  great 
movement  to  and  fro  among  the  churches  are  afforded  by  the  saluta- 
tions with  which  Paul's  letters  so  often  close,  and  the  greetings  in  other 
epistles  (Rom.  16;  Phil.  4:  21,  22;  Heb.  13:2,  24).  Hospitality  was  in 
that  hostile  world  a  fine  Christian  grace,  the  missionaries  especially  being 
as  a  rule  gladly  welcomed  (3  John  5-10). 

3.  Correspondence.  Missionaries  or  messengers  often  brought  letters 
from  the  apostles  or  from  church  to  church  (Phil.  2: 19,  25),  which  were 
read  in  gatherings  of  the  brethren,  and  served  to  weld  together  the 
sundered  parts  of  the  Christian  body  (2  Cor.  3:1;  Col.  4:16). 

Thus  the  bond  uniting  these  brethren  was  not  the  system  of  a  school 
of  thought,  nor  any  external  organization,  but  the  common  fellowship 
of  a  large  family,  a  household  of  faith,  with  its  earthly  sign-manual 
in  common  love,  common  hopes,  and  mutual  help  (Gal.  6:10;  i  Peter 
2:9,  10). 


19 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:     A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Third  Day  :     The  New  Testament  Passion  for  Unity 

1.  No  reader  of  the  Pauline  epistles  can  fail  to  detect  the  anxiety 
with  which  the  apostle  resists  any  disintegrating  forces  among  the 
churches.  This  it  is  which  gives  its  passion  to  the  epistle  to  the 
Galatians  (1:6,  7;  2:2,  5),  and  which  causes  Second  Corinthians  to 
throb  vehemently.  Paul's  fear  is  lest  the  unity  of  Christendom  should 
be  shattered.  If  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christianity  stood  disrupted,  like  the 
riven,  clashing  rocks  of  legend  barring  entrance  to  the  Friendly  Sea,  the 
gospel  would  be  in  a  hopeless  case.  Unity  goes  down  deep  (Gal.  3:28)  ; 
hatred  of  schism,  is  intense  (i  Cor.  1:10-13).  In  his  later  years  the 
sounds  of  the  conflict  between  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians  die  away, 
and  the  apostle  breaks  into  serene  eloquence  as  he  contemplates  the 
marvelous  glory  of  the  one  and  invisible  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  (Eph. 
2:14-17;  4:1-6),  of  which  the  local  churches  of  the  empire  united^  in 
common  service  of  the  gospel  are,  in  spite  of  all  their  blemishes,  the  visi- 
ble embodiment  (4:12,  13;  5:27). 

2.  But  Paul  was  not  content  with  this  ideal  of  unity.  He  gave  it 
expression  in  the  well-organized  system  of  contributions  from  the 
churches  of  the  provinces  in  behalf  of  their  poor  brethren  in  the  mother 
church  at  Jerusalem.  He  lays  great  stress  on  this  as  a  practical  proof 
of  Christian  fellowship  (Rom.  15:26),  whereby  he  hoped  to  heal  the 
breach  between  the  two  sections ;  for  if  the  Jew  received  help  from  his 
Gentile  brother  he  could  not  avoid  cherishing  for  him  a  more  friendly 
regard.  In  order  to  render  this  community  of  love  more  impressive  he 
has  a  deputation  of  representatives  from  each  circle  sent  with  the  money, 
and  he  himself  is  their  leader  (2  Cor.  8:1-4,  23,  24;  9:1-4,  (>,y,  12,  14). 
By  personal  intercourse  he  hoped  to  disarm  prejudice  and  unify  all  sec- 
tions in  a  common  sympathy.  Those  will  most  appreciate  the  success 
of  his  undertaking  who  understand  the  national  antagonisms  of  those 
times. 

3.  Though  Paul's  conditions  brought  him  into  prominence  as  a  cham- 
pion in  securing  a  unified  Christendom,  other  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment place  no  less  importance  on  the  cultivation  of  unity  (Heb.  6:10; 
I  Peter  3:8;  4:8),  while  the  conviction  of  the  oneness  of  the  brethren 
culminates  in  the  Johannine  writings  (i  John  3:14;  4:7)>  being  the 
dominant  theme  of  the  Intercessory  Prayer  (John  17:11,  21,  23,  26). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:   A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Fourth    Day:     Brothers   in   a   New   Family:    Disciples 

1.  The  members  of  the  "Household  of  Faith"  were  "brothers." 
Their  head  was  Jesus  Christ,  now  absent  from  them  in  the  body,  but 
present  in  their  midst  by  His  Spirit  (Heb.  2:11;  3:6;  Matt.  28:20). 
Orphans  in  an  evil  world  these  brethren  drew  together  seeking  to  obey 
the  commands  of  their  unseen  Lord  by  living  in  love  with  one  another 
(John  14:15-18;  15:18,  19).  They  are  brothers  by  reason  of  a  higher 
kinship  than  that  of  blood,  their  Master  having  warned  his  followers 
that  they  might  have  to  sacrifice  earthly  relationships  in  order  to  gain 
higher  privileges,  for  fellowship  in  the  circle  of  those  early  brethren 
brought  a  keenness  of  joy  that  few  if  any  had  ever  experienced  in  earthly 
homes  (Matt.  12:49,  50 ;  Mark  10:28-31). 

2.  In  accordance  with  this  Christianity  was  a  house  religion.  The 
gatherings  of  the  brethren  were  held  in  the  homes  of  the  wealthier  mem- 
bers, who  probably  not  only  gave  the  use  of  their  rooms  but  supplied 
meals  for  the  poorer  among  them  and  the  slaves  (i  Cor.  16:15;  Col.  4: 
15;  Philem.  2).  Under  cover  of  night  they  would  come  to  their  love- 
feast — a  slave  perchance  snatching  an  hour  from  his  harsh  owner,  or  a 
whilom  Jewish  family  rich  in  spiritual  inheritance  but  poor  in  this 
world's  goods,  even  a  Roman  centurion,  grave  but  contented  in  aspect, 
accompanied  by  a  soldier  of  his  band.  To-night  perhaps  they  come  with 
eager  interest,  for  yonder  sits  a  man  small  of  stature  but  keen  of  eye, 
though  furrowed,  and  he  bears  the  marks  of  hardship  and  is  branded 
even  on  his  face  with  wounds.  Paul  it  is  who  presides  at  the  feast. 
Trouble  and  the  world  are  left  outside.  The  door  swings  in  on  a  court 
of  peace.  Each  was  supposed  to  share  his  brother's  burdens  (Gal.  6:2; 
James  5:16,  19,  20).  But  was  it  always  so?  In  i  Cor.  6:1-8;  James 
4:1-4  we  discover  that  dashes  of  dark  color  would  often  tone  the  idyllic 
brightness  of  the  picture. 

3.  Another  common  term  in  the  Gospels  and  Acts  for  those  who  be- 
lieved in  Jesus  is  "Disciple"  (Acts  6:1;  9:38;  11:26;  21:16).  This 
suggests  the  time  when  Jesus  was  in  Galilee  and  called  upon  men  to 
follow  Him.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  commoner  title  among  the  Jewish 
Christians,  some  of  whom  were  His  personal  disciples,  than  among 
Gentiles,  to  whom  He  had  first  been  made  known  as  the  risen  Lord. 
Yet  all  were  in  a  sense  disciples  of  Jesus,  for  He  was  the  living  Lord 
of  every  Christian,  and  the  old  commandment,  "follow  me,"  was  new 
with  each  generation  of  believers  who  sought  "to  walk  even  as  He 
walked"  (i  John  2:6-8;  i  Peter  2:21). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:   A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Fifth  Day  :     Saint,  Slave,  Christian. 

1.  "Saint"  is  one  of  the  most  usual  designations  for  the  brethren, 
especially  in  the  Pauline  epistles,  Hebrews  and  Revelation  (Rom.  1:7; 
Heb.  3:1).  Separated  from  a  sinful  world  they  are  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  God.  Why  are  they  also  called  "the  elect"?  (Col.  3:12; 
I  Peter  1:1.)  Individually  united  to  Christ  they  felt  that  they  owed 
everything  to  God's  grace  (Gal.  1:15),  and  had  been  chosen  by  Him 
out  of  the  world  to  serve  Him  (i  Cor.  1:2;  Eph.  1:4).  As  saints  they 
have  received  the  Holy  Spirit  which  seals  them  as  belonging  to  another 
world  ( I  Peter  1:2;  Eph.  i :  13,  14 ;  i  John  2 :  27 ;  4:13). 

2.  "Slave."  This  most  opprobrious  of  epithets  becomes,  when  inter- 
preted in  the  light  of  Christ's  redemptive  love,  a  favorite  term  for  the 
Christian's  devotion  to  the  Lord  who  owns  him  absolutely.  For  the 
full  figure  see  i  Cor.  6:19,  20.  Was  this  slavery  galling?  An  answer  is 
given  in  Gal.  5  :  13 ;  6  :  17.    The  will  of  God  is  no  yoke  (Heb.  13 :20,  21). 

3.  "Christian."  This  title  was  really,  when  accepted,  a  confession  of 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  From  Phil.  2:11;  Heb.  3:1;  Matt.  16:16,  18  we 
seem  to  be  justified  in  inferring  that  every  candidate  for  baptism  was  re- 
quired to  make  public  acknowledgment  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  the  living  God ;  and  this  practice,  which  dated  probably  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  (Acts  2:38),  may  have  given  rise 
to  this  name  for  the  brethren.  We  need  not  concern  ourselves  with  the 
time  and  place  of  its  origin,  though  the  incident  in  Acts  11:26  bears 
the  stamp  of  verisimilitude.  The  name  occurs  only  twice  elsewhere  in 
the  New  Testament  (Acts  26:28;  i  Peter  4:16),  but  in  a  short  time  it 
dispossessed  all  others,  and  was  current  in  Rome  probably  by  64  A.  D. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  it  was  accepted  by  believers  as 
their  fit  and  proper  designation.  Ignatius,  the  date  of  whose  death  may 
be  put  down  at  117  A.  D..  says,  "that  I  may  not  only  be  called  a  Christian 
but  also  be  found  one"  (Rom.  3).  The  Christian  was  really  "the  Christ's 
man." 

4.  These  terms  show  that  the  Christian  community  not  only  enjoyed 
a  common  life,  but  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  heart  and  soul  of  their 
fellowship.  Nothing  was  too  dear  to  yield  to  Him.  His  sword  cut  sharp 
and  deep,  as  it  does  still,  separating  between  father  and  son,  mother  and 
daughter,  though  the  excluded  ones  soon  found  in  the  company  of  the 
faithful  greater  love  than  they  had  ever  known ;  often  they  had  to  take 
a  road  that  led  out  to  death,  for  on  it  they  saw  the  footsteps  of  their 
Master  (Matt.  10:34-39).  There  was  one  Name  that  acted  as  a  spell 
upon  these  brethren  (Acts  5:41;  Phil.  2:10;  3  John  7),  while  it  roused 
Jew  and  Gentile  to  passionate  hatred. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:   A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Sixth  Day  :    The  Body  of  Christ,  the  Church,  the  New 

Israel 

1.  There  were  in  that  brotherhood  two  complementary  tendencies, 
ahruism  and  individualism,  which  when  separated  have  often  done  harm. 
The  Christian  was  not  a  hermit  seeking  to  save  his  own  soul  apart  from 
his  fellows,  nor  was  he  an  insignificant  atom  lost  in  the  fellowship  at 
large.  He  was  a  brother  among  brethren,  a  saint  among  the  elect,  a  sub- 
ject in  the  kingdom,  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,  a  citizen  of  the 
true  Israel  (i  Peter  2:4-10). 

2.  Several  terms  were  applied  to  the  whole  fellowship  of  believers. 
Of  these  Paul  often  uses  "the  Body  of  Christ."  (See  especially  i  Cor. 
I2:i2ff. ;  cf.  Eph.  4:11-16.)  Christ  is  the  Head  from  whom  life  per- 
vades the  organism,  the  well-being  of  the  whole  depending  on  the  well- 
being  even  of  the  smallest  part.  Thus  the  Christian  churches  were  not 
loosely  articulated  societies,  but  spiritual  organisms  united  in  common 
life  from  the  living  Christ. 

3.  This  ideal  body  is  often  called  "the  Church."  It  was  no  abstract 
term,  but  was  partially  realized  all  over  the  Roman  Empire  in  com- 
munities, whose  members  were  supplied  by  the  Holy  Spirit  with  gifts 
(i  Cor.  12:1-11;  I  Peter  4:10).  Does  the  New  Testament  put  the 
primary  emphasis  on  the  redemption  of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  or  the 
individual?  How  is  the  individual  related  to  the  body?  (Matt.  16: 
16-19;  18:15-17;  Acts  20:28;  Eph.  4:11-13;  5:25-27.) 

4.  This  new  creation  did  not  rise  upon  the  world  unheralded  and  un- 
related to  the  past.  There  has  been  only  one  house  which  God  has  been 
building  through  the  ages.  Long  ago  were  the  patriarchs,  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  who  ministered  in  more  primitive  and  lesser  rooms  while 
the  national  Israel  was  God's  chosen  people  (Heb.  1:1;  3: 1-6).  Earthly 
Israel,  however,  proved  unfaithful;  it  rejected  its  Messiah  (John  i: 
11-13)  ;  wherefore  God  hath  rejected  the  nation  as  such  (Luke  20: 
9-19)  ;  but  a  holy  kernel  survives,  those  who  accepted  Jesus  as  Messiah, 
and  has  now  been  served  heir  to  the  promises.  The  brotherhood  be- 
comes "the  nev/  Israel,"  the  true  house  of  God.  The  faithful  Gentile 
is  the  real  Son  of  Abraham,  the  true  Israelite,  most  glorious  of  names 
to  a  Jew  (Gal.  :^:7;  6:16;  i  Peter  2:9,  10).  Of  what  magni- 
tude and  order  must  those  brethren  have  conceived  Christ  to  be,  when 
He  entered  like  a  new  planet  into  their  world  system,  and  could  com- 
pel the  Jew  out  of  his  old  national  orbit  into  the  sweep  of  spiritual 
powers  in  a  new  realm? 


23 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  3:   A  Fellowship  of  Love  to  Christ 


Seventh  Day  :     The  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  His  Love 


1.  The  Kingdom  of  God.  Though  this  term  occurs  seldom  in  the 
epistles,  it  is  probably  the  most  comprehensive  idea  in  Christ's  teaching, 
and  brings  out  the  fullness  of  the  life  of  the  Church  particularly  well. 
Its  rare  occurrence  in  the  epistles  was  due  partly  to  the  unfamiliarity 
of  the  Greeks  with  the  Jewish  conception  of  the  theocracy,  and  partly 
to  the  fact  that  their  earlier  national  life  and  political  ideals,  selfish  and 
partisan  as  they  were,  supplied  no  impressive  framework  for  the  sphere 
of  the  divine  sovereignty.  To  the  original  disciples  the  term  would 
mean  more,  for  not  only  were  they  Jews,  but  they  had  heard  Jesus 
preach  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  in  Galilee. 

2.  The  term  as  it  was  used  by  the  Christians  of  the  epistles  was  no 
ideal  of  resurgent  national  hopes,  nor  a  kingdom  of  this  world,  such 
as  Gentiles  would  belong  to,  in  which  emperors  and  their  subordinates 
sought  to  aggrandize  themselves  rather  than  to  serve  the  people.  It 
was  the  Kingdom  of  God  because  it  signified  God's  rule.  Wherever  He 
holds  sway  there  is  the  kingdom,  whether  it  be  in  the  heart  of  the  in- 
dividual in  whom  His  Spirit  is  working  out  His  will  (Rom.  14:17),  or 
in  the  multitude  of  subjects  who  live  a  common  life  under  the  laws  of 
that  kingdom.  Its  true  sphere  is  in  the  unseen  world  lying  beyond  the 
present,  but  it  has  come  to  earth  and  is  being  wrought  out  in  the  hearts 
of  men.  Christ  who  has  been  entrusted  with  the  establishment  of  that 
kingdom  is  proving  Himself  Lord  by  the  victory  He  is  gaining  in  the 
hearts  of  men  (i  Cor.  15:24,  25;  Col.  1:13),  and  that  victory  will  be 
complete.  But  the  final  glory  of  the  kingdom  will  only  be  manifest 
when  the  present  shall  have  given  way  to  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth 
(Rev.  2i:if. ;  Heb.  12:28).  Then  shall  each  be  perfect  in  all,  the  whole 
kingdom  being  a  community  of  the  perfect  forming  one  complete  hu- 
manity in  Christ  Jesus  (Eph.  4:13). 

3.  All  the  designations  of  this  brotherhood,  whether  individual  or 
corporate,  thus  draw  their  significance  from  Jesus  Christ,  with  whom 
each  and  all  were  linked  in  "an  enthusiasm  of  loyalty  and  devotion." 
Across  the  Roman  Empire  were  strung  invisible  chords  of  love  and 
faith  binding  the  several  churches  together,  and  as  the  experience  of 
their  life,  joyful  or  grievous,  swept  through  them,  it  turned  into  a 
melody  of  adoration  to  Jesus  as  Lord. 


24 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  4:    The   Hope  of  the   Brotherhood 


First  Day:    A  Reversal  of  Values 

1.  A  ruling  conviction  of  the  brotherhood  was  that  the  unseen  world 
IS  of  overwhelming  importance  as  compared  with  the  present.  It  is 
the  world  of  realities;  this  world  is  a  world  of  shadows,  and  with  its 
ambitions  and  false  desires  is  passing  away  (Heb.  2:5;  11  •3-  2  Cor  5- 
i;  I  John  2:17)  Though  believers  live  on  earth,  their  true 'citizenship 
is  m  heaven  (Phil.  3:20,  21;  i  Thess.  2:12),  and  that  glorious  in- 
heritance IS  being  kept  for  them,  as  they  also  are  being  guarded  for  it  in 
the  midst  of  the  temptations  and  sufferings  of  the  present  (i  Peter  i: 

2.  In  vievy  of  this  transcendent  world  to  which  the  believer  is  heir 
his  present  distress  may  well  be  endured  (Rom.  8:i8ff.)  until  he  reaches 
the  new  Jerusalem  whose  glory  even  now  rises  above  the  shock  of  con- 
flict (Rev.  21:  If).  There  was  among  these  brethren  a  heroic  indif- 
ference to  the  worst  that  the  world  could  do.  What  though  they  are 
plundered  o  their  goods?  (Heb.  10:34.)  Are  they  the  sport  of  men 
and  of  angels,  the  refuse  of  the  world?  (i  Cor.  4:9,  11-13  )  Nothing 
can  shake  their  bold  confidence  in  God,  for  their  future  is  assured  (Rom 
«:i8).  Indeed  trial  is  a  joy,  affliction  a  purifying  fire  (James  1:2; 
I  i^eter  1:6,  7).  Tossed  though  they  are  on  a  sea  of  troubles  in  this 
present  world  they  cannot  drift,  for  their  hope,  an  anchor  that  will  not 
snap,  IS  plunged  into  the  unseen  depths  and  holds  them  firm  to  irremov- 
able rea  ities  (Heb.  6: 19,  20).  This  faith  had  been  verified  by  the  pres- 
ence in  their  midst  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come  (Heb.  6:5); 

3.  Their  triumph  over  death  was  a  proof  of  the  intensity  of  their 
r?!-i  ^Hf-i^^P"?'"  ™'"d  was  enslaved  by  terror  of  death,  but  Jew  or 
Gentile  philosopher  or  unlearned,  when  he  had  once  discovered  eternal 
life  in  Jesus  Christ,  cast  from  him  his  fear  and  faced  the  unseen  with 

n^i^i^-'f  r.^=  /  SS^-  '5--5S;  I  John  4:17,  18).  Death  is  drowned 
m  an  ocean  of  life  (2  Cor.  5:4),  for  the  individual  will  exchange  his 
present  mortality  for  a  glorious  tenement  which  is  awaiting  him  even 
now  in  heaven  (2  Cor.  5:1,  2).  s         ' 


25 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 


Second  Day  :     The  Risen  Christ  the  Heart  of  Their 

Hope 

1.  The  simple  reason  of  this  joy  in  facing  the  future  was  that  the 
unknown  had  been  made  known  to  them.  To  die  was  to  be  with  Christ 
(Phil.  1:23).  Jesus  stands  over  the  dying,  stilling  him  to  sleep  as  a 
mother  her  child,  and  he  awakes  in  the  light  of  eternal  day  (i  Thess. 
4:14).  The  average  Christian,  unlike  his  Master,  had  no  Gethsemane, 
and  no  agony  such  as  his  sinless  Lord  endured  on  the  cross. 

2.  Their  victory  over  death  and  their  hopes  spring  from  faith  in  the 
risen  and  living  Christ  (i  Peter  1:3;  Heb.  2:5-9;  i  Cor.  15:12-19).  He 
is  the  Prince  of  life  at  the  right  hand  of  God  (Acts  3:15)-  Though 
absent  in  heaven  His  presence  is  imminent  over  this  world,  and  we  may 
take  Rev.  i :  13-18  as  a  description  of  the  way  in  which  some  of  the 
Christians  would  picture  their  Lord  enthroned  in  majesty.  But  an  even 
more  iDeautiful  figure  is  that  of  the  Lamb  who  will  shepherd  the  souls 
of  men  in  eternal  life  (Rev.  7'-'^7)- 

3.  Christ  will  be  forever  the  central  glory  of  the  future  realm,  for 
as  the  believer  is  even  now  complete  in  Him  (Col.  2:10),  he  is  also 
called  to  the  eternal  glory  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  (i  Peter  5:10),  and 
the  vision  of  the  Christ  shall  transform  the  believer  into  His  likeness 
(i  John  3:2).  Christ  will  always  be  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  (Rev. 
5 :  12,  13).  The  Son  will  introduce  His  many  brethren,  who  in  obedience 
follow  Him,  into  the  presence  of  God  (Heb.  2:10,  11).  Ranged  round 
Jesus  Christ  believers  will  through  Him  attain  unto  perfect  sonship 
(Rom.  8:29). 


26 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the   Brotherhood 


Third  Day:     The  Fullness  of  Life  in  the  Glorious 
Company  of  the  Saints 

1.  The  coming  kingdom  is  not  a  realm  like  the  present,  for  flesh  and 
blood  shall  not  inherit  it  (i  Cor.  15:50).  There  shall  be  a  new  body- 
suited  to  the  spiritual  sphere,  like  unto  the  glorious  body  of  the  risen 
Christ  (i  Cor.  15:23,  44,  49).  No  human  tongue  can  describe  the 
grandeur  of  that  future  (i  Cor.  2:6-9).  Indeed  this  salvation  engaged 
the  attention  of  inspired  men  of  old  (i  Peter  1:10-12),  and  at  present 
the  believer  has  only  a  foretaste  of  the  final  salvation  (Eph.  i :  14). 

2.  But  in  that  future,  the  new  Canaan,  the  Rest  of  God  (Heb.  4:9; 
12:22),  believers  shall  be  pure  and  spotless,  each  possessing  his  own 
unique  salvation  (Jude  24).  Will  there  be  growth  in  that  world?  It 
seems  to  be  implied  ih  Matt.  5:48;  2  Cor.  3:18;  Eph.  4:13;  i  John  3:2. 

3.  Each  will  be  perfect  in  all.  Just  as  on  earth  no  disciple  could 
cherish  the  true  life  apart  from  fellowship  with  his  brethren  (i  John 
4:12,  20,  21),  so  in  the  heavenly  city  the  glory  of  believers  is  an  in- 
heritance among  the  saints.  It  will  be  fullness  of  life  because  there  will 
be  perfect  fellowship  of  love  between  Father,  Son  and  brethren  (Heb. 
12:22-24;  f  John  1:3,  4;  Eph.  1:18).  The  eternal  Church  of  God  will 
be  a  magnificent  unity  composed  of  infinite  variety,  each  perfect  life  of 
the  organism  flashing  forth  like  a  facet  its  ray  of  light,  as  a  share  of  the 
glorious  radiance  streaming  from  the  whole  Body  of  Christ  to  illuminate 
all  worlds  in  the  oncoming  ages,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  marvelous 
riches  of  the  wisdom  of  God  (Eph.  2:7;  3:10;  4:13-16).  Moreover, 
this  glory  will  emancipate  all  creation,  which  is  straining  its  eye  for  the 
advent  of  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God  (Rom.  8:19). 

3.  In  the  gospels  also  we  find  the  same  hope  for  the  future,  though 
many  of  the  aspects  of  the  kingdom  which  they  contain  are  concerned 
with  its  progress  in  the  present  world.  However,  the  present  is  lived 
under  the  light  of  the  future,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  Jesus 
lays  more  stress  on  one  than  on  the  other.  The  blessedness  of  the 
coming  kingdom  is  pictured  as  a  banquet  at  which  there  will  be  a  goodly 
fellowship  of  patriarchs  and  prophets  (Luke  13:28;  14:15;  22:18,  30). 
Sitnilar  conceptions  appear  in  the  fourth  gospel,  where  (14 — 16)  the 
believer  is  promised  perfect  communion  with  his  Lord  in  an  eternal 
heavenly  home. 


27 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 


Fourth  Day  :    The  Return  of  Jesus 

1.  Though  Jesus  is  now  in  heaven  He  will  return  to  consummate  His 
kingdom  surrounded  with  all  the  majesty  of  a  royal  progress  (i  Thess. 
4:16;  Matt.  26:64).  Various  terms  occur  in  the  New  Testament  to 
describe  this  personal  return  of  Jesus.  One  of  these,  "Apocalypse,"  or 
"Revelation"  (2  Thess.  i :  7 ;  i  Cor.  i :  7 ;  i  Peter  i :  7,  13 ;  4 :  13) ,  suggests 
the  thought  that  Jesus,  though  hidden  from  view,  stands  ready  to  appear 
at  any  moment,  whenever  the  curtains  are  drawn  aside  which  now  hide 
that  world  of  realities  from  mortal  gaze.  A  similar  term,  "Appearing," 
is  a  favorite  in  the  pastoral  epistles  (i  Tim.  6:14;  Titus  2:13).  But 
the  most  familiar  is  "Parousia,"  "Presence,"  or  "Coming"  (i  Cor.  15: 
23;  James  5:  7;  i  John  2:28).  This  last  word  seems  to  have  been  in 
general  employment. 

2.  The  present  was  thought  to  be  the  scene  of  a  mighty  conflict, 
though  the  result  is  not  doubtful,  for  Jesus  must  put  all  His  enemies 
under  His  feet.  In  every  movement  of  nature,  every  convulsion  of  the 
wicked  world  they  beheld  a  death  throe  of  the  defeated  adversary 
(2  Thess.  2:7,  8;  Rev.  20:1-3).  Meantime  on  earth  the  followers  of 
Jesus  are  helping  Him  in  His  struggle  (Col.  1:24),  for  they  are  fellow- 
laborers  with  Him  while  He  stands  "within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch 
above  His  own." 

3.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  be- 
lieved not  only  that  the  battle  between  Christ  and  His  adversary  was 
already  won  in  principle,  because  he  had  been  smitten  to  the  death 
(i  Peter  3:22;  Col.  2:15),  but  also  that  this  spiritual  fact  would  soon  be- 
come manifest  to  the  world.  Jesus  would  ere  long  return  in  glory  to  this 
earth  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead  and  to  bring  His  kingdom  to  its 
consummation.  This  cosmic  event  was  expected  to  happen  in  the  first 
generation  of  believers,  for  such  seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable  inter- 
pretation of  passages  like  i  Thess.  4:15;  i  Cor.  15:51;  Rom.  13:12; 
Heb.  10:37;  James  5:7;  i  Peter  4:7;  i  John  2:18;  Rev.  22:20. 


28 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 


Fifth  Day:     Phases  of  Belief  in  the  Return  of  Jesus 

1.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  gradual  development  in  the  conception 
of  the  Church  of  the  first  century  as  to  the  return  of  Jesus.  At  first, 
while  the  brethren  were  a  sect  of  Judaism,  they  had  no  thought  of  carry- 
ing the  gospel  to  the  wider  Gentile  world,  but  hoped  that  their  people 
would  repent  and  prove  themselves  to  be  the  true  Israel  (Acts  3:19-21). 
Not  till  then  would  the  Lord  return  to  dwell  on  earth  among  a  holy 
people.  But  experience  soon  proved  that  Israel  according  to  the  flesh 
would  not  repent,  and  that  even  as  they  had  put  Messiah  to  death  they 
would  also  persecute  His  growing  kingdom  (Acts  7:51-53). 

2.  Then  came  the  expansion  of  the  Church  to  the  Gentile  world, 
opening  up  a  vista  of  wide  conquests  to  be  made  for  the  risen  Christ. 
So  the  Church  threw  herself  with  vigor  into  the  thick  of  the  heathen 
powers  in  league  with  the  world-god.  Christ  was  with  her.  His  Spirit 
was  going  before  her  so  evidently  that  she  thought  less  than  formerly 
of  His  personal  return  to  the  earth.  The  missionaries  were  doing  His 
bidding  in  carrying  this  gospel  to  the  world  (Mark  13:10),  at  first 
probably  without  any  active  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  governments. 
But  the  promise  of  the  return  was  never  forgotten. 

3.  Then  persecution  broke.  Rome  as  well  as  Jerusalem  became  hos- 
tile, and  the  awful  hatred  of  the  world  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  was 
revealed.  How  can  the  victorious  Son  brook  such  evil  so  long?  was  the 
question  on  many  a  lip.  Maran-atha,  a  cry  for  relief,  was  the  prayer  of 
many  a  heart.  But  it  is  probable  that  as  persecution  waxed  or  waned  if 
brought  into  distinctness  or  allowed  to  grow  dim  for  a  time  this  convic- 
tion of  His  return,  which  was  always  on  the  horizon-line  of  the  life  of 
that  early  Church. 

4.  With  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  70  A.  D.,  the  danger  to  the  Church 
from  the  Jew  diminished,  but  the  Roman  Empire  became  a  worse  foe 
(see  Revelation).  By  the  end  of  the  century  Antichrist  is  not  a  national 
but  a  spiritual  power — those  who  deny  that  Jesus  is  the  true  Son  of  God 
(i  John  2:18;  4:1-3).  So  violent  has  the  denial  grown  that  the  time  is 
ripe  for  destruction.  Finally,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  fourth  gospel 
enlarges  upon  the  return  of  Jesus  in  the  Paraclete,  while  the  thought  of 
the  immediate  personal  appearing  has  become  less  central. 


29 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 


Sixth  Day:     A  Misinterpretation  and  Its  Blessing 

1.  Notwithstanding  their  strong  hopes  for  the  return  of  Jesus  that 
early  Church  was  disappointed,  and  no  small  danger  of  unbelief  accom- 
panied the  disappointment  (i  Thess.  4:13-18;  Heb.  10:36-39;  2  Peter 
3:4).    How  then  did  they  come  to  entertain  the  conviction? 

2.  One  of  the  largest  ideas  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  was  that  of 
the  Day  of  the  Lord,  when  Jehovah  would  appear  in  majesty  to  judge 
His  people,  sifting  out  the  faithful  remnant,  destroying  rebellious  Israel, 
and  establishing  His  reign  in  righteousness  (Mai.  3:2fi.;  Isa.  ii:4ff., 
13).  This  Day  was  always  thought  of  as  near,  and  was  regarded 
as  the  one  event  by  which  the  kingdom  would  be  consummated. 

3.  Now  the  disciples  were  Jews,  and  were  accustomed  to  think  of 
this  Day  of  the  Lord  as  the  one  swift  crisis,  when  the  Kingdom  of  God 
which  Jesus  preached  would  be  manifested  to  their  own  generation  in 
all  its  glory.  They  were  merely  doing  what  every  prophet  had  done 
before  them.  With  their  literal  ideas  of  the  kingdom  not  altogether 
purged  away,  they  interpreted  Christ's  sayings  as  to  His  return  (Mark 
13:24-27)  as  a  single  event  near  at  hand.  They  misunderstood  His  pre- 
diction as  to  His  resurrection  also  (Mark  9:31),  and  we  cannot  be 
surprised  that  they  were  equally  sluggish  with  regard  to  His  other  say- 
ings on  the  future  (Mark  13:32;  Acts  1:6,  7).  Living  in  the  small 
valley  of  their  Jewish  national  life  the  early  Christians  only  saw  the  sun 
striking  through  and  illuminating  their  own  hillsides.  But  Jesus  was 
to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  and  His  Spirit  illumining  them  dis- 
pelled the  clouds,  when  the  disciples  found  that  He  was  to  come  and 
bathe  far  distant  plains  and  islands  of  the  sea  in  His  light.  We  know 
that  the  Day  of  the  Lord  is  stretching  over  centuries. 

4.  And  yet  this  misinterpretation,  or  preferably  this  necessary  limita- 
tion of  their  understanding  of  their  Master,  served  in  the  providence  of 
God  a  good  purpose.  Those  Christians  felt  assured  of  victory  provided 
they  could  scale  the  heights  immediately  in  front  of  them.  Never  has 
confidence  in  the  power  of  Christ  been  more  needed  than  during  the 
awful  experience  of  that  untried  Church.  They  believed  that  He  was 
with  them  and  that  the  struggle  would  not  be  long.  So  they  faced  the 
terrible  odds  and  won.  That  was  all  they  were  asked  to  do.  As  far 
as  they  were  concerned  it  was  the  end  of  their  world,  and  undoubtedly 
the  Day  of  the  Lord  had  begun  when  Jerusalem  fell  in  70  A.  D.  But 
if  they  had  known  that  other  generations  would  have  to  face  other  anti- 
christs, the  early  believers  might  have  grown  faint-hearted  at  the  pros- 
pect of  distant  years,  and  not  have  carried  the  gospel  so  eagerly  to  the 
world.  Their  limited  knowledge  thus  became  a  blessing  to  us  who  have 
entered  into  their  labors. 


30 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  4:    The  Hope  of  the  Brotherhood 


Seventh  Day  :     The  Permanent  Truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian's Hope 

1.  The  eflfect  of  the  expectation  of  the  speedy  return  of  Jesus  upon 
the  life  of  the  primitive  believers  has  often  been  exaggerated.  Though 
in  some  quarters  this  hope  led  to  undue  enthusiasm  under  the  influence 
of  which  men  began  to  abandon  their  daily  pursuits,  this  was  sporadic 
(2  Thess.  2:2;  3:10,  11),  and  there  was  on  the  whole  a  wonderful  moral 
balance  in  that  early  Church.  Such  a  belief  must  have  somewhat  af- 
fected the  conditions  of  society  and  its  ideals,  but  no  more  permanent 
condition  of  uncertainty  was  introduced  for  the  individual  than  faces 
every  man  now  in  the  fact  of  the  unknown  day  of  his  death.  And  society 
itself  was  regenerated  just  by  the  men  who  cherished  these  hopes.  They 
did  not  disregard  their  present  duties,  nor  become  ascetics.  On  the  con- 
trary they  wrought  into  practice  the  most  perfect  and  sane  code  of 
morals  for  a  life  under  ordinary  conditions  in  this  world  that  has  ever 
been  known.  The  reason  was  that  equally  important  with  the  promise 
of  Christ's  return,  if  indeed  it  was  not  more  so,  was  His  command  to 
obey  Him  (John  14:15-21),  and  the  shortness  of  life  did  not  prevent  its 
being  a  field  of  discipline  for  character. 

2.  But  in  truth  the  time  element  was  not  the  most  important  part  of 
their  hope.  The  Christians  knew  that  they  had  actually  been  transferred 
out  of  darkness  into  the  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God's  love  (Col.  i :  13). 
Already  they  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  was  to 
them  an  overwhelming  proof  of  the  value  and  reality  of  the  other  world 
(i  Peter  i :  12;  Eph.  i :  13,  14;  Heb.  6:4,  5;  i  John  4:13).  Their  spiritual 
experience  was  as  real  a  proof  to  them  of  the  existence  of  the 
heavenly  city  as  their  sense  experience  was  of  the  reality  of  the  present 
seen  world  (Heb.  11:1-3).  That  real  world  was  separated  from  the 
present  by  a  mere  handbreadth,  and  the  curtain  must  soon  rise  and  dis- 
close its  glory.  This  remains  the  permanent  truth  of  our  hope  also. 
The  present  earthly  scene  is  of  short  duration.  Even  here  we  have  eter- 
nal life,  but  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

3.  So  the  judgments  of  men  were  reversed.  Paul  gives  the  Chris- 
tian view  in  i  Cor.  2:6-16;  2  Cor.  4:4.  These  brethren  did  not  appraise 
their  worldly  goods  at  small  value  because  they  were  of  short  tenure, 
but  because  they  had  the  mind  of  Christ  and  knew  that  they  were  in- 
herently of  little  worth.  They  wished  to  save  their  life  (Mark  8:34-38), 
and  their  treasure  and  heart  were  both  secure  beyond  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  present  (Matt.  6:19-21).  It  was  not  only  a  few  philosophic 
minds  who  enjoyed  such  serene  confidence.  Buoyancy  pervaded  the 
brotherhood.  Why  did  they  place  such  enormous  value  on  the  unseen 
world?  Whence  came  this  matchless  hope,  this  faith  that  subdued  an 
empire? 

31 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the  Brotherhood 


First  Day:     Miraculous   Powers  Accompany  and  Flow 
FROM  THE  Preaching  of  the  Gospel 

1.  The  conviction  of  the  brotherhood  that  supernatural  power  was 
in  their  midst  may  be  illustrated  from  nearly  every  writing  of  the  New 
Testament.  It  broke  forth  upon  them  at  baptism  as  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  was  a  confirmation  to  them  by  God  Himself  that  the  gos- 
pel was  the  truth  (Heb.  2:3,  4).  Here  and  now  they  enjoy  the  powers 
of  the  coming  Messianic  age.  They  are  an  essential  part  of  their  life  of 
faith  whereby  they  have  a  vivid  experience  of  the  real  world  beyond 
(Heb.  6:5).  Paul  also  had  large  evidence  of  similar  effects  accompany- 
ing his  preaching  (i  Thess.  1:5;  Gal.  3:5).  Indeed  the  same  extraor- 
dinary display  of  energy  welled  forth  from  every  group  of  believers 
from  Jerusalem  to  Illyricum,  the  farthest  point  the  apostle  had  reached 
before  writing  the  letter  to  the  Romans  (Rom.  15:18-20). 

2.  The  ordinary  terms  employed  are  "powers,"  "marvels,"  "signs." 
The  first  describes  the  event  as  a  display  of  divine  energy  (Acts  3 :  12 ; 
4:7;  Eph.  2,'-7,  16)  working  through  the  individual  Christian  as  an 
instrument.  The  word  "marvel"  or  "wonder"  brings  out  the  effect  of 
astonishment  with  which  the  miracle  strikes  the  beholder  (2  Cor.  12: 12), 
while  "sign"  refers  to  it  as  a  deed  of  divine  origin.  The  miracle  is  not 
a  dead,  unrelated  fact,  but  an  action  with  a  meaning  (i  (Tor.  14:22). 

3.  Every  member  of  the  Corinthian  Church,  it  would  appear,  was 
endowed  with  some  spiritual  gift.  Different  as  these  gifts  were  they  all 
came  from  God,  who  granted  each  a  manifestation  of  the  same  spirit 
for  the  common  good  (i  Cor.  12:4-11).  They  were  not  only  such  as 
might  be  used  for  edification  in  their  common  gatherings— prophecy, 
faith,  "tongues,"  interpretation  of  this  strange  speech,  ability  to  dis- 
criminate prophetic  utterance,  but  there  were  works  of  healing  and 
miraculous  powers.  The  ordinary  Corinthian  had  a  wrong  scale  of 
values.  Greek  as  he  was  he  regarded  enthusiasm  as  a  token  of  the  in- 
dwelling God,  and  went  to  excess  in  the  use  of  the  gift  of  tongues, 
which  often  degenerated  into  frenzied  ejaculations,  unintelligible  to  the 
congregation.  Paul  discountenances  this  misuse  of  a  real  spiritual 
power  (i  Cor.  14:1-25).  All  gifts  were  to  be  employed  in  the  service 
of  the  brotherhood  (i  Peter  4: 10,  11).  This  is  a  fundamental  law  of  the 
kingdom. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5.   The    Sense  of  Power  in  the   Brotherhood 


Second  Day:     A  Constant  Belief  Throughout  the  New 

Testament 

1.  A  further  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  the  Church  of  the  latter 
half  of  the  first  century  believed  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  been  mani- 
fested within  it,  is  afforded  by  the  Book  of  Acts.  This  treatise  is  written 
under  the  conviction  that  a  personal  Spirit  of  power  coming  from  the 
risen  Jesus  guided  the  fortunes  of  the  brethren  (Acts  r:8).  The 
Church  is  born  at  Pentecost  by  an  act  of  power  (Acts  2:1-4).  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  whose  treason  would  wreck  the  mutual  confidence  of  the 
brethren,  are  visited  by  sudden  death  (5:1-11).  Not  only  do  gifts  of 
healing  appear  in  their  midst,  but  the  demons  are  driven  out  and  the 
dead  raised  (Acts  3:if. ;  5:12;  9:36-43;  20:7-10).  They  believed,  too, 
that  Jesus  Himself  had  given  them  this  power  (Luke  10:19,  20). 

2.  The  miraculous  element  in  the  life  of  the  early  Church  is  also 
illuminated  by  Mark  16:9-20.  As  they  stand  the  verses  are  not  part  of 
this  original  gospel,  but  they  may  be  used  for  our  present  purpose, 
which  is  to  show  the  conviction  of  the  brotherhood  during  the  first 
century.  (See  especially  17,  18,  most  of  which  may  be  paralleled  from 
Acts.)  The  miraculous  endowment  was  threefold:  (i)  For  edifica- 
tion of  the  brethren;  (2)  healing  diseases  and  averting  deadly  results; 
(3)  driving  out  demons.  Further,  the  passage,  like  Acts  and  Luke, 
connects  this  miraculous  power  with  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  an  accompani- 
ment of  the  introduction  into  the  world  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  which 
He  preached. 

_  3.  Thus  throughout  the  New  Testament  there  is  an  unbroken  convic- 
tion to  the  effect  that  that  period  was  exceptional,  and  that  the  believers 
had  been  invested  by  Jesus  with  new  powers.  His  Spirit  working  in 
them  to  this  effect.  It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  there  were  in  those 
early  years  such  manifestations  (see  First  Day).  Were  they  tokens  of 
the  Divine  presence  as  the  Christians  themselves  believed?  To  deny 
their  interpretation  is  not  merely  to  say  that  they  were  mistaken  as  to 
some  events  of  their  life,  but  to  hold  that  their  whole  world-view  was 
incorrect._  Miracles  were  to  them  as  much  a  sign  of  the  presence  of 
God's  Spirit  as  was  their  new  life.  Indeed  they  were  inseparable,  for 
the  new  life  was  a  miraculous  creation  (2  Cor.  5:17). 


33 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the   Brotherhood 


Third  Day  :     The  Conquering  Gospel 

1.  We  must  not  overestimate  these  outward  miraculous  signs  as 
though  they  were  regarded  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  as  the 
supreme  proof  of  supernatural  power.  Far  from  it ;  their  life  as  a  whole 
was  the  display  of  power.  It  was  a  mighty  stream  sweeping  everything 
before  it.  The  inherent  dynamic  of  the  gospel  is  seen  in  the  aggressive- 
ness of  its  first  preachers.  A  handful  of  men,  reckless  of  their  lives,  en- 
deavor to  take  by  assault  first  the  Jewish  nation  and  then  the  Roman 
world ;  and  that  in  spite  of  the  conviction  that  the  present  age  had  only 
a  few  years  to  run.  Nor  did  they  regard  Rome  or  Judaism  as  tottering 
through  internal  decay.  That  world  was  not  senile.  Palestine  was  far 
more  prosperous  than  it  is  to-day.  Antioch,  Tarsus,  Ephesus,  Corinth, 
Rome  were  centers  of  enormous  wealth  and  fine  culture.  The  audacity 
of  these  missionaries  was  only  matched  by  their  success. 

2.  The  leaders  of  this  activity  were  the  apostles,  who  held  their 
primacy  not  only  because  they  had  fuller  knowledge,  but  also  by  reason 
of  their  power  in  spreading  the  gospel  (i  Cor.  9:2;  2  Cor.  3:2;  12:12). 
Theirs  was  no  mere  official  rank.  None  equalled  the  greatest  of  the 
apostles  in  the  extent  to  which  they  laid  the  foundations  of  the  gospel. 

3.  Consider  the  confidence  of  this  Paul.  Of  a  race  despised  by 
Roman  and  Greek,  hated  by  his  fellow  Jews,  he  is  not  ashamed  to  face 
Rome  with  the  gospel  (Rom.  1:15,  16),  though  it  had  been  the  scorn 
of  the  wise  Greek,  for  he  knows  that  many  will  be  gripped  by  this  power 
of  God  unto  salvation.  Nor  does  he  leave  us  in  any  doubt  as  to  the 
source  of  his  superhuman  energy.  As  a  man  of  the  world  he  is  held  in 
slight  esteem,  so  much  so  indeed  that  on  his  arrival  in  Galatia,  a 
stranger,  all  but  done  to  death,  branded  with  slavery  scars  of  Christ, 
his  plight  almost  revolted  those  who  saw  him  (Gal.  4:13,  14;  6:17). 
Before  and  since  he  has  been  the  plaything  of  every  fortune.  Again  and 
again  in  some  strait  when  he  asked  himself  whether  this  was  death  at 
last  his  heart  would  answer,  Yes!  (2  Cor.  1:9).  His  body  is  wearing 
thin  because  of  his  hardships,  but  through  the  veil  of  his  flesh  is  seen  the 
image  of  the  new  man  created  in  Christ  (2  Cor.  4:7-18;  11:16-33;  12: 
9,  10).  The  power  of  the  living  Christ  is  almost  incandescent  in  this 
vessel  of  clav. 


34 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the   Brotherhood 


Fourth  Day:     In  Demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of 

Power 

1.  If  the  apostles  held  forth  the  word  of  power  like  bright  lights  far 
off  on  inhospitable  capes  or  islands  on  the  ocean  of  heathenism,  there 
were  multitudes  of  lesser  men  flashing  out  the  truth  along  the  shores. 
Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  power  of  the  unknown  missionary. 
How  often  was  the  planting  of  churches  done  by  obscure  believers  (Acts 
8:4,  5;  11:19-24).  The  church  to  which  Hebrews  was  written  had  been 
evangelized  by  unknown  persons  (Heb.  2:3);  that  of  Rome — the  im- 
perial city — owed  its  origin  to  no  apostle ;  so  also  the  church  of  Colossae 
(Col.  1:4). 

2.  The  life  of  that  church  showed  itself  in  its  missionary  zeal. 
Within  their  borders  such  a  powerful  fountain  of  living  water  had 
suddenly  burst  forth  that  it  streamed  down  upon  the  world  in  every 
direction.  And  fruits  of  the  Spirit  grew  luxuriantly  along  the  water 
courses  from  the  soil  that  had  hitherto  been  quite  barren.  This  active 
propaganda  of  the  faith  is  as  evident  at  the  end  of  the  century  in 
Johannine  circles  as  at  the  beginning  (3  John  7,  8).  They  expected  the 
hatred  of  the  world  indeed  (i  John  3:13),  but  when  Rome  has  shown 
her  teeth  a  Jew  dares  to  defy  her  in  the  words  of  Rev.  18:16,  17,  20. 
Daunted  at  nothing  they  found  their  chief  joy  in  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel (2  Thess.  3:1;  Phil.  1:12-20). 

3.  In  Ephesus,  Athens  and  Corinth  Paul  was  first  regarded  as  one 
of  a  multitude  of  itinerant  rhetoricians  who  took  stock  themes  from 
conventional  morality.  These  "sophists"  were  like  modern  clergymen 
in  whom  the  professional  has  absorbed  the  minister.  They  made  a 
trade  of  their  eloquence.  The  "philosopher,"  often  wearing  a  distinctive 
garb,  would  gather  a  crowd,  but  he  could  not  handle  the  problems  of 
life  with  earnestness  (i  Cor.  1:20,  21).  At  first  the  Athenians  thought 
that  Paul  was  "a  picker-up  of  learning's  chips,"  and  then  they  politely 
dismissed  him  (Acts  17:  i8ff.).  In  contrast  with  the  other  lecturers  who 
sought  to  impart  by  rhetoric  some  of  the  culture  which  was  the  training 
of  every  gentleman,  the  Christian  prophet  or  apostle  spoke  not  in  ex- 
cellency of  speech,  but  with  divine  inspiration  (i  Cor.  2:1-5,  12,  13). 
Many  were  subdued  into  obedience  to  this  word  of  power,  while  others 
stared  at  such  unwonted  conviction  and  passed  by.  (For  this  study 
see  Hatch,  "Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  on  Christian  Church";  Mahafify's 
"Greek  World  under  Roman  Sway" ;  Gildersleeve's  "Essay  on  Apollonius 
of  Tyana  in  Classical  Essays" ;  Zeller's  "Philosophie  der  Griechen,"  III.. 
2,  pp.  126-137;  Ramsay's  "St.  Paul  the  Traveler  and  Roman  Citizen." 
ch.  xi.) 

35 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the  Brotherhood 


Fifth  Day:     The  Defeat  of  Magic 

1,  There  is  not  a  trace  of  credulity  in  the  New  Testament.  Its 
writers  do  not  record  strange  portents,  nor  fill  their  pages  with  freakish 
displays  of  the  extraordinary.  They  are  convinced  that  the  power  which 
is  within  the  Church  is  moral,  and  must  express  itself  in  restrained 
and  congruous  manifestations.  In  marked  contrast  to  this  was  the  prac- 
tice of  magic,  which  had  a  greater  hold  than  philosophy  on  that  world, 
because  it  was  thought  to  be  a  gateway  to  the  supernatural  universe,' 
before  which  philosophical  speculation  stood  helpless.  Magic  had  wide 
vogue,  not  only  in  the  Orient,  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  but  particularly 
in  Samaria,  and  as  a  forbidden  art  among  the  Jews.  It  was  based  on 
a  universal  belief  in  the  existence  of  demons,  against  which  charms 
were  supposed  to  be  potent.  The  exorcist,  accidental  and  sporadic 
though  his  power  was  in  scattering  here  and  there  an  evil  spirit  (Matt. 
12:27-30),  enjoyed  much  repute.     But  he  was  in  truth  morally  helpless. 

2.  Paul  speaks  of  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness  as  an  atmosphere 
enyelopmg  life  to  be  dissipated  only  by  the  light  of  the  gospel  (Eph.  6: 
12).  With  faith  in  the  conquering  Christ  the  Christian  faced  the  realm 
of  evil  spirits  and  drove  magic  from  the  field  wherever  he  went  (i  Peter 
3:22;  Rom.  8:38,  39).  Christ  not  only  was  believed  to  have  opened  up 
the  new  world  which  magic  sought  to  compass,  but  to  have  had  a 
triumphant  progress  through  all  the  regions  of  the  universe.  His 
death  had  been  cosmic  in  its  effects.  It  had  been  a  final  blow  struck  at 
the  heart  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  remnants  of  its  dead  or  dying 
powers  were  seen  here  and  there,  as  the  Christian  passed  hither  and 
thither  victorious  in  the  name  of  Christ  (Luke  10:17;  Eph.  4:8-10-  Co! 
2:i5). 

3-  Of  several  instances  recorded  in  Acts  of  the  worsting  of  magicians 
by  the  new  preachers,  the  most  remarkable  is  the  case  of  Simon  Magus 
(Acts  8:9-24),  round  whose  name  an  immense  romance  and  literature 
has  grown.  (See  also  Acts  13:6-12;  19: 13-19.)  It  is  beyond  doubt  that 
this  sovereignty  began  with  Jesus  Himself  (Mark  3:23-27),  who  saw  in 
His  success  a  proof  that  the  kingdom  of  evil  was  being  dispossessed  by 
the  stronger  One.  Here  again  the  power  resides  in  the  dominance  of  a 
new  Person.     (See  Ramsay,  "St.  Paul  the  Traveler,"  ch.  iv  ) 


36 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the  Brotherhood 


Sixth  Day  :     Kept  by  the  Power  of  God  Unto  Salvation 


1.  The  Christian  not  only  possessed  exceptional  powers  and  had  con- 
fidence to  go  anywhere  with  his  gospel,  but  he  was  of  this  mind  because 
he  felt  that  he  was  in  the  protection  of  an  invincible  Power  (i  John  5: 
18).  Undoubtedly  the  odds  against  him  were  enormous.  To  an  on- 
looker his  life  was  little  more  than  a  vapor  drifting  for  a  day  on  cur- 
rents of  erratic  and  irresistible  force  (James  4: 14).  Behind  this  visible 
world  there  was,  he  thought,  the  world-god,  lord  of  innumerable  evil 
spirits,  whose  influence  was  so  subtle  that  he  breathed  it  into  his  life 
(Eph.  6:12).  There  was  the  stream  of  temptation  to  ease,  worldly 
hopes,  and  past  association  in  which  many  were  submerged  (Heb.  4:1; 
10:35-39).     Multitudes  endured  a  fearful  struggle  against  apostasy. 

2.  But  the  average  Christian  had  joyful  confidence.  This  is  a  favorite 
term  in  the  New  Testament  vocabulary  (Acts  4:13,  29;  Phil.  1:20; 
Heb.  3:6;  I  John  3:21;  4:17).  Their  God  was  encamped  round  about 
them  (i  Peter  1:4,  5).  It  was  no  slight  demand  that  was  made  on  the 
Jewish  Christians  to  entrust  their  life  and  its  fortunes  to  the  new  Israel. 
Nay,  they  ventured  heroically  in  abandoning  their  patriotism,  the  pres- 
tige of  a  religion  consecrated  by  the  promises  of  God  and  the  glory 
of  temple  and  ritual,  for  a  religion  without  visible  mediator  or  offer- 
ing, with  no  history  behind  it  or  social  rank,  almost  bare  in  its  spiritual 
simplicity.  (This  lies  at  the  basis  of  much  of  the  argument  of  He- 
brews. See  4:14-16;  6:17-20;  7:26-28;  8:1-13;  9:8-10,  etc.)  Hardly 
less  was  required  of  a  Gentile  who  had  to  face  the  scorn  of  his  fellows 
in  joining  a  foreign  brotherhood.  In  fact  nothing  but  an  overwhelming 
sense  of  the  power  of  Jesus  would  have  made  them  willing  for  the  sacri- 
fice (John  10:27-30).  If  God  was  for  them,  who  could  be  against  them? 
(Rom.  8:28-39.) 

3.  This  confidence  is  often  described  as  "enthusiasm."  But  the  mat- 
ter does  not  end  there.  How  was  this  enthusiasm  created?  In  ordinary 
life  enthusiasm  is  not  always  a  coefficient  of  strength.  The  enthusiastic 
elements  are  often  the  least  permanent,  being  dependent  on  some  excit- 
ing cause.  Enthusiasm  is  not  a  proper  description  of  the  tide  of  life  that 
came  in  irresistibly  and  covered  forever  unhealthy  marshes,  jagged 
reefs  and  piteous  wrecks.  In  the  New  Testament  it  is  coming  to  the 
flood.     Never  since  in  Christendom  has  it  fallen  to  where  it  was. 


37 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  5:    The  Sense  of  Power  in  the  Brotherhood 


Seventh  Day  :     The  Holy  Spirit  of  Christ  the  Source  of 

Power 

1.  There  were  of  course  gifts  of  the  Spirit  which  might  be  termed 
"enthusiastic,"  but  the  message  of  the  Kingdom  was  not  merely  flung 
out  as  Christians  gladly  abandoned  themselves  to  any  danger.  Endur- 
ance was  as  much  required  as  enthusiasm,  and  wisdom,  discernment  and 
government  were  equally  noteworthy  proofs  of  the  Spirit's  presence 
(i  Cor.  12:8-11).  The  Christian's  finest  fruit  came  through  the  endur- 
ance whereby  he  was  to  win  his  life  (Luke  8:15;  21 :  19 ;  Heb.  10 :  36-39) . 
He  was  perfectly  conscious  of  His  strength,  of  which  miracles  were  only 
one  expression. 

2.  His  conviction  was  that  the  living  Christ  was  the  source  of  power 
within  him  (Rom.  8:ir,  14,  15).  Two  facts  are  associated  in  the  New 
Testament — the  indwelling  of  a  Spirit  within  the  brethren,  and  its 
source  in  Christ  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again  (John  20:22;  Luke 
24:49;  Acts  15  :8;  2  Cor.  i  :2i,  22;  Heb.  2:4;  6:4;  i  Peter  1:2).  That 
Spirit  was  a  portion  of  another  world,  an  earnest  of  final  salvation  (Eph. 
1:13,  14).  At  their  baptism  believers  received  this  heavenly  gift,  but 
it  continued  as  an  active  inspiration  from  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  10:44,  45: 
2  Cor.  3:17,  18).  He  is  the  great  personal  Power  on  whom  in  their 
weakness  they  throw  themselves.  Are  they  able  to  endure  persecution? 
They  know  why  (i  Peter  4:14).  Is  the  darkness  scattering  before 
them?    It  is  because  the  light  is  in  the  world  (i  John  3:8;  4:13). 

3.  In  the  fourth  gospel  this  Spirit  whom  they  receive  from  Jesus  is 
called  the  Paraclete  (John,  chs.  14-16)  :  He  is  the  Advocate  or  Support 
in  whom  He  will  return  to  them  again.  Acts  starts  forth  the  apostolic 
Church  with  Pentecost,  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the 
brethren  is  regarded  by  them  as  a  proof  that  the  Messianic  age  has  been 
inaugurated,  and  that  power  has  been  sent  to  them  from  their  en- 
throned Lord  (Acts  2:4,  16,  38).  The  active  powers  of  the  Spirit  were 
all-sufficient  evidence  to  them  that  His  promise  of  visiting  His  people 
was  fulfilled.  Every  display  of  energy  was  a  token  of  the  presence  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  (Matt.  28:18-20;  Luke  24:49). 

4.  Such  was  one  side  of  the  power  of  that  brotherhood,  their 
miracles,  their  all-conquering  gospel,  their  endurance.  They  never 
doubted  what  its  source  was,  and  its  results  were  worthy  of  the  origin. 
To-day  no  less  than  then  man  is  under  the  control  of  spiritual  powers, 
forces  other  than  himself  making  for  righteousness  or  for  evil.  All 
that  is  within  our  choice  is  to  say  whether  we  will  entrust  ourselves  to 
the  keeping  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  whose  nature  Jesus  has  inter- 
preted to  the  world. 

38 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


First  Day  :     The  Bad  Soil  in  which  the  Gospel  was  Sown 

1.  No  harder  and  at  the  same  time  more  vital  test  can  be  put  to  any 
religion  than  to  require  it  to  bring  into  existence  and  perpetuate  a  new 
and  exacting  ethical  life.  Morality  is  the  crown  of  our  nature.  Our 
conscience  is  the  knowledge  which  we  share  with  God,  and  to  discover 
there  some  new  chord  responsive  to  diviner  melodies,  and  to  smite  upon 
it  till  its  clear  note  rises  above  and  controls  the  earthly  dissonance  of 
human  hearts,  demands  a  master  musician  such  as  appeared  with  the 
rise  of  Christianity.  This  religion  provided  a  supreme  ideal  of  conduct, 
and  at  the  same  time  wrought  it  out  into  the  actual  life  of  the  world.  It 
is  called  in  the  New  Testament  the  fruit  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
(Matt.  7:16;  John  15:16;  Rom.  6:22,  etc.). 

2.  We  may  discern  the  vitality  of  the  seed  when  we  see  the  soil  In 
which  it  grew.  Tramped  hard  by  materialism,  the  world  as  a  whole  was 
almost  conscienceless ;  there  were  great  morasses  of  what  seemed  to  be 
irreclaimable  sensuality,  and  the  best  ground  had  run  out  with  unsatis- 
fying philosophies  and  mysteries.  "In  no  period  had  brute  force  more 
completely  triumphed,  in  none  was  the  thirst  for  material  advantages 
more  intense,  in  few  was  vice  more  ostentatiously  glorified"  (Lecky, 
"European  Morals,"  I.,  181).  Are  the  words  of  i  Peter  4:3,  4,  too 
strong  to  describe  the  tone  of  Asia  Minor,  where  Revelry  was  worshiped 
as  a  god,  and  religion  was  not  only  idolatry,  but  had  disgusting  prac- 
tices as  an  integral  part  of  its  ritual? 

3.  We  cannot  wonder  at  the  recurrent  warnings  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  when  we  remember  that  the  first  object  to  attract 
the  apostle's  regard  on  his  approach  to  Corinth  was  the  temple  of 
Aphrodite  on  the  Acropolis,  in  which  prostitutes  served  as  priestesses 
(i  Cor.  5:1-13;  6:9-20;  7:8-10).  And  Rom.  1:18-32,  awful  as  it  is,  is 
no  worse  than  the  indictment  made  by  many  writers  of  that  age.  Slavery 
had  proved  a  curse,  many  of  the  slaves  having  brought  the  vilest  ideas 
of  the  Orient  into  the  homes  of  the  Western  world,  which  soon  wrought 
havoc  with  the  rather  high  moral  tone  of  Rome  during  the  Republic. 
Athens,  too,  had  lost  her  earnestness.  The  provinces  outstripped  the 
capital  in  depravity.  (See  Lecky's  "History  of  European  Morals." 
Twelfth  edition.) 

"  On  that  hard,  pagan  world  disgust 
And  secret  loathing  fell. 
Deep  weariness  and  .sated  lust 
Made  human  life  a  hell." 


39 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Second  Day:     A  Yearning  Among  the  Gentiles  for 
Revelation 

1.  The  picture  is  dark  enough.  Is  there  then  no  light?  There  is, 
and  however  inferior  the  moral  standard  was  as  compared  with  our 
ideal,  it  was  sufficient  to  rouse  in  many  a  protest  against  the  hideousness 
of  their  great  cities.  From  this  class  sprang  a  revival  of  religion,  to- 
gether with  attempts  at  reform.  (See  Hatch,  pp.  139-141.)  There  was 
a  widespread  membership  in  clubs  and  religious  guilds  involving 
stringent  morals.  The  age  was  in  fact  more  religious  than  that  which 
preceded  it.  Speculative  thought  had  yielded  to  a  practical  philosophy 
which  for  a  few  was  almost  a  religion. 

2.  The  Stoics  were  the  finest  of  these  schools  of  philosophy.  Re- 
garding the  present-world  order  as  the  best  of  all  possible  systems,  the 
Stoic  sought  to  follow  nature  in  accordance  with  reason,  yielding  neither 
to  irrational  passion  nor  hoping  for  a  future  to  remedy  the  defects  of 
the  present.  In  some  of  its  best  representatives  Stoicism  is  sufifused 
with  a  glow  of  emotion,  while  the  pious  resignation  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
and  the  precepts  of  Epictetus  to  follow  nature  and  to  follow  God,  show 
that  these  men  found  in  their  philosophy  what  others  enjoy  in  religion. 
But  the  average  Stoic  was  an  impassive  sage,  self-reliant  and  often  un- 
touched by  pity,  who  would  perform  every  duty  and  face  death,  beyond 
which  as  a  rule  he  had  no  outlook,  not  only  with  composure,  but  with  a 
sense  of  relief.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  this  cold  and  centripetal 
moral  excellence  never  touched  the  life  of  the  common  man  (Acts  17 : 
18). 

3.  The  Epicurean  school  can  show  at  this  time  no  such  noble  ad- 
herents as  the  Stoics,  and  was  followed  chiefly  by  those  who  wished  to 
provide  themselves  with  a  rationale  for  a  life  of  indifference  to  public 
duty  and  for  following  passion.  Epicureanism  had  become  a  filthy 
stream,  befouling  any  life  that  it  carried  on  its  surface. 

4.  The  world  wanted  more  than  philosophy.  Men  were  adrift  on  an 
ocean  for  which  philosophy  provided  neither  chart  nor  compass,  and 
they  hailed  every  craft  from  the  East  or  elsewhere  to  give  them  tidings 
by  revelation  of  another  world  in  which  they  would  fain  believe.  This 
the  neo-Pythagorean  philosopher  claimed  to  satisfy.  He  taught  that 
the  soul  was  immortal,  but  that  it  must  be  freed  by  asceticism  from  the 
clogging  flesh.  Life  was  to  be  nobly  lived  in  active  virtue  from  a  pure 
heart  in  the  service  of  God  and  one's  fellows.  But  the  neo-Pythagorean 
conception  of  God  was  far  below  that  of  the  Hebrew,  and  as  a  system 
apart  from  its  influence  on  a  few  thinkers  it  was  ineffectual,  never  lift- 
ing the  heavy  burden  of  life  from  off  the  masses  of  men.  (See  Sidg- 
wick's  "History  of  Ethics" ;  Zeller's  ''Philosophic  der  Griechen,"  III.,  2, 
137-141 ;  Hatch,  "Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the  Chris- 
tian Church,"  Lecture  VI.) 

40 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Third  Day  :    The  Jew  Prepares  the  World  for  the  Gospel 

1.  In  considering  the  creation  of  the  Christian  ideal  we  must  not 
forget  that  the  backbone  of  the  early  Christian  communities  consisted 
of  Jews  and  proselytes.  An  immense  number  of  Jews  were  settled  in 
the  Roman  Empire.  Harnack  estimates  them  at  seven  per  cent  of  the 
urban  population.  Often  eager  to  make  proselytes  the  Jew  had  been 
successful  in  attaching  to  his  mode  of  life  a  vast  multitude  of  "God- 
fearers"  who,  while  not  submitting  to  his  ritual,  adopted  his  monotheism 
and  morals  (Acts  13 :  43  ;  i6 :  14 ;  17 :  17 ;  i8 : 7) .  It  seems  that  the  masses 
with  their  desires  turned  towards  coarse  Oriential  or  Egyptian  super- 
stitions, but  many  of  the  finer  spirits  found  satisfaction  in  Judaism, 
which  may  also  have  worked  like  leaven  in  many  others  and  prepared 
the  way  for  Christianity. 

2.  Now,  what  had  Judaism  done  for  these  proselytes  and  the  "God- 
fearers"  who  waited  in  the  courts  of  the  synagogue  ?  (a)  It  had  touched 
a  high  ethical  practice  with  religious  emotion.  The  Jew  was  contented, 
it  is  true,  with  an  average  "wisdom,"  safe,  but  never  heroic.  He  had, 
however,  always  before  his  eyes  the  fear  of  God  and  His  command- 
ments, even  if  he  had  no  burning  passion  for  a  pure  and  lofty  ideal,  nor 
would  ever  cast  the  present  world  and  its  chances  from  him  for  the 
sake  of  an  absorbing  spiritual  venture.  He  was  a  religious  Stoic,  (b) 
Judaism  also  did  something  to  create  a  moral  conscience,  preserving  as 
it  did  a  simplicity  of  heart  and  life  and  a  rigorous  ideal  of  purity  for 
the  individual  and  the  home. 

3.  But  Judaism  at  its  best  could  never  become  a  world-wide  religion. 
It  was  too  exclusive.  Even  in  the  Western  world  which  had  rubbed 
off  his  sharpest  angles  the  Jew  was  a  disagreeably  superior  person.  He 
looked  askance  at  both  the  proselyte  and  the  "God-fearer."  Some 
highly  educated  men  there  were,  like  Philo,  who  taught  the  Stoic  ideal 
of  the  brotherhood  of  men,  but  they  were  few  and  had  no  influence  on 
the  common  Jew,  who  hated  and  was  hated  by  the  Gentile  world.  In 
fact,  the  Jewish  feeling  of  superiority  gave  rise  to  the  gravest  problem 
of  the  early  Church.  Paul  came  forward  with  his  free  gospel,  teaching 
that  there  was  to  be  no  privileged  or  exclusive  caste  in  the  brotherhood. 
So  Christianity  simply  swept  into  itself  multitudes  who  had,  while  wor- 
shiping with  the  Jews,  been  wistfully  looking  for  a  truer  revelation  of 
God. 


41 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Fourth  Day  :     The  Gospel  a  Word  of  God  to  a  Depraved 

World 

1.  True  on  the  whole  as  was  the  judgment  of  the  Jew  with  regard  to 
his  superiority  over  his  Gentile  neighbor  in  intelligence  and  morality, 
the  people  were  nevertheless  depraved  enough.  Insincerity  had  eaten 
like  a  canker  into  their  life.  In  Palestine  there  were  the  Pharisees. 
The  Sadducaic  spirit — materialistic,  sensual,  selfish— was  also  abroad. 
Magic  and  superstition  accompanied  by  vice  had  made  great  inroads 
among  the  Jews  of  the  Western  Dispersion.  Paul's  judgment  on  the 
Jew  in  Rom.  2:1-29  is  just,  for  his  guilt  was  equally  deep  with  that  of 
the  Gentile. 

2.  The  fact  of  importance  is  that  the  world  as  a  whole  was  morally 
bankrupt.  It  had  sought  to  revive  its  credit  by  taking  stock  in  any  re- 
ligion or  philosophy  which  promoters  might  set  before  it.  But  this  was 
part  of  the  difficulty  confronting  Christianity.  The  ethical  reserve  of 
the  world  had  been  exhausted.  A  new  character  had  to  be  created.  The 
older  religions  had  been  immoral.  Purity  was  not  essential  in  their 
gods.  It  was  the  philosopher  and  the  poet,  not  the  priest,  who  preached 
the  highest  morality.  Philosophy  had  sought  to  prove,  and  with  success, 
that  virtue  is  the  truest  reason,  being  inherent  in  the  constitution  of 
things.  Knowledge,  it  is  said,  is  virtue,  but  such  knowledge  is  only 
within  the  reach  of  the  wise  man,  so  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  the 
highest  virtue  was  attainable  even  by  the  best  mortals  of  this  world. 

3.  Does  not  our  educated  world  to-day  require  to  learn  the  truth  of 
which  men  became,  in  those  days,  aware  so  painfully,  that  knowledge  of 
virtue  is  not  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  conduct  ?  That  age  needed 
power  and  authority.  It  was  an  hungered  for  revelation;  it  was  ready 
for  a  religion  that  would  come  with  "thus  saith  the  Lord."  And  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  early  gospel  was  proclaimed  in  no  hesitating 
manner.  There  was  no  lack  of  conviction  in  the  preacher.  This  was 
part  of  the  reason  why  he  was  believed,  and  when  the  world  listened 
to  his  message 

"  a  conquering,  new-born  joy  awoke, 
And  filled  her  life  with  day." 

4.  Christianity  brought  her  message  of  authority  just  where  it  was 
needed.  The  gospel  was  preached  first  in  cities  which  were  as  a  rule 
more  profligate  than  the  country  districts.  It  was  planted  in  Antioch, 
glorying  in  her  "Daphnic  morals"  ;  in  Corinth,  whose  name  was  current 
in  a  word  denoting  vice  of  the  worst  sort,  and  in  Rome,  the  sink  of  the 
empire.  Certainly  the  gospel  did  not  refuse  to  challenge  the  god  of  this 
world  in  his  strongholds. 


42 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Fifth  Day:     The  Message  of  Israel  as  to  Righteousness 

AND  Sin 

1.  Why  does  Jesus  say,  "Salvation  is  of  the  Jews"?  (John  4:22.) 
What  advantage  had  the  Jew  in  the  history  of  religion?  (Rom.  3:  iff.) 
Within  Israel  God  had  revealed  His  character  as  nowhere  else ;  this  peo- 
ple had  enjoyed  the  richest  endowment  of  spiritual  life.  So  Christianity, 
which  was  to  take  up  and  carry  to  completion  the  best  that  God  had 
made  known  concerning  Himself,  became  the  true  successor  to  Israel, 
became  in  fact  the  real  Israel.  Not  only  Jesus  but  His  apostles  recog- 
nize that  He  came  to  fulfill  the  past,  to  bring  to  perfection  truths  that 
were  adumbrated  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  (Matt.  5:17;  Heb.  1:1). 

2.  What  was  the  message  of  Israel  to  the  world?  (Mark  12:28-31.) 
God  is  an  ethical  Person,  but  He  is  also  the  one  almighty  Creator  of 
heaven  and  of  earth.  His  will  is  absolute,  and  it  is  also  perfect  in 
righteousness.  Thus  the  divine  will  becomes  the  law  of  righteousness 
for  men.  The  divine  will  had  been  embodied  in  the  divine  law  as  it  is 
set  forth  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  it  served  as  a  noble  moral  dis- 
cipline for  those  who  lived  under  it,  eliciting  from  the  finest  spirits  their 
strong  devotion  to  its  observance.  This  was  quite  a  different  position 
from  that  of  the  Greeks,  who  regarded  virtue  as  a  matter  of  universal 
reason  shared  by  gods  and  men  alike.  According  to  the  Hebrew  ideal 
of  conduct  virtue  is  righteousness,  obedience  to  the  will  of  a  holy  God. 

3.  Further  the  elaborate  ritual  of  worship  served  to  inspire  the 
Israelite  with  reverence  for  the  inviolate  purity  of  his  God,  which  was 
to  be  reflected  also  in  his  civil  and  personal  life.  The  people  of  Jehovah 
must  be  clean  in  heart,  soul,  and  body.  Even  Isaiah  is  a  man  of  un- 
clean lips  (Isa.  6).  But  the  holiness  of  Jehovah  is  not  only  ritual  in  its 
nature,  it  is  moral.  This  introduced  a  conception  which  was  in  large 
measure  foreign  to  the  world  outside  of  Judaism.  There  is  none  good 
but  one,  that  is  God  (Mark  10:18),  for  all  have  disobeyed  God's  law 
(Rom.  3:9-18).  Sin  is  thus  lawlessness  (i  John  3:4),  it  is  a  transgres- 
sion of  the  limits  which  God  has  appointed  as  right  conduct  (Rom.  5 : 
13,  14).  Sin  is  not  merely  shortcoming  in  reaching  forth  to  an  ideal, 
nor  a  flaw  in  our  progress  which  we  shall  outgrow,  nor  a  disease,  nor 
defective  knowledge.  All  moral  evil  is  sin ;  it  is  trespass  against  a  holy 
God. 


43 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Sixth  Day:     Love  of  a  Father's  Will  which  is  Truth 
Displaces  Fear 

1.  Christianity  had  a  splendid  ground  in  the  Old  Testament  religion 
on  which  to  build,  but  there  was  much  accumulated  rubbish  to  be  cleared 
away  before  it  got  down  to  the  real  conscience  of  the  common  people, 
overlaid  as  it  had  been  by  the  instruction  of  the  scribes.  The  law  had 
become  so  encrusted  with  traditional  enactments  that  its  original  mean- 
ing was  forgotten,  and  the  whole  system  had  to  be  punctiliously  observed 
under  pain  of  Divine  displeasure.  Righteousness  was  to  the  average 
Pharisee  obedience  to  an  outward  code,  to  a  letter  that  killed  (2  Cor.  3 : 
6ff.). 

2.  As  a  result  of  this  view  of  righteousness  fear  played  a  large  part 
as  a  motive  for  obedience,  and  some  of  the  finer  religious  feelings,  such 
as  gratitude  and  love,  which  pulse  through  the  prophetic  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  are  but  faintly  apparent  in  the  works  of  the  Pharisees. 
The  Pharisee  did  not  love  his  God.  He  stood  in  awe  of  Him  as  a  task- 
master. Ancient  ethics  generally  shared  with  later  Judaism  this  con- 
ception of  fear  as  the  ruling  factor  in  determining  the  relation  of  man 
to  God.     (See  Wundt's  Ethics.) 

3.  But  Christianity  changed  all  that.  Jesus  taught  that  God  is  a 
Father.  He  loves  His  children,  and  they  should  love  Him.  God  so 
loved  the  world  as  to  give  His  best  (John  3 :  16)  ;  indeed  all  our  love 
springs  from  God's  nature  (i  John  4:19)-  Morality  ceases  to  be  an 
external  code,  lifeless  and  terrorizing.  It  is  the  expression  of  a  holy 
and  loving  will  (i  Peter  1:15-17).  The  holiness  and  goodness  of  the 
Divine  nature  are  erected  into  a  standard  for  life,  which  both  in  its 
completeness  and  its  power  drives  from  the  field  all  competing  ideals. 
Truth  is  no  longer  merely  an  intellectual  conception,  but  the  practical 
essence  of  life ;  it  is  the  will  of  a  Holy  Father  who  loves  us,  and  obedi- 
ence to  this  will  becomes  the  truth  for  the  believer  (John  8:32;  14:6; 
James  i :  18). 

4.  Love  now  displaces  fear  as  a  motive  in  religion  (Rom.  8:31-39; 
I  John  3:19-22;  4:17-19).  The  revelation  of  the  divine  nature  as  the 
Holy  Father  makes  His  commands  for  us  no  irksome  precepts,  to  be 
obeyed  because  we  are  compelled  by  alarm  at  the  consequences  of  dis- 
obedience, but  we  become  eager  in  seeking  what  the  will  of  God  for  us 
is  (i  John  4:7-12;  5:3,  4)- 


44 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  6:  The  Christian  Character  a  New  Creation 


Seventh  Day:     Forgiveness  of  Sins  and  Faith  at  the 
Root  of  Christian  Character 

1.  Moreover,  the  Christian  teaching  went  far  beyond  Judaism  in 
the  meaning  it  gave  to  sin.  The  holier  and  more  loving  God  the  Father 
is,  the  more  awful  is  disobedience  to  His  will.  So  we  come  upon  an- 
other fundamental  doctrine  in  the  Christian  life,  that  of  forgiveness  of 
sins.  It  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  new  ethics.  All  men  are  sinful  and  sin 
brings  death,  but  the  gospel  message  was  that  though  God  hates  sin  He 
has  not  averted  His  face  from  the  sinner,  but  forgives  his  sin.  This  is 
Divine  "grace."  Never  before  had  the  world  understood  as  it  did  in 
the  apostolic  age  the  mercy  of  God  in  pardoning  sinful  man  (Mark  2: 
10).  It  was  the  great  promise  of  the  new  covenant  of  the  Messianic 
era  (Jer.  31:33,  34;  cf.  Matt.  26:28). 

2.  The  condition  of  forgiveness,  however,  was  faith  (Acts  13:38,  39). 
Faith  in  its  simplest  idea  is  trust.  He  who  believes  trusts  in  the  mercy 
of  God,  places  himself  entirely  in  His  keeping,  and  opens  his  whole  na- 
ture to  receive  from  God  whatever  gracious  influence  His  Spirit  may 
impart.  There  is  no  pride,  self-sufficiency,  nor  self-reliance  in  faith.  It 
recognizes  the  helplessness  of  the  natural  man  and  flings  its  whole  bur- 
den in  obedience  upon  the  love  of  God  (Gal.  2:20,  21;  Heb.  11  :i,  6; 
I  John  5:4).  Here  there  was  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  Judaism  and 
Christianity.  The  Jewish  religion  was  ruled  by  the  conception  of  law 
— "thou  shalt,"  "thou  shalt  not."  But  this  legalism  proved  to  be  a  tragic 
failure,  for  it  crucified  the  sinless  One,  and  Paul,  perhaps  its  greatest 
disciple,  has  left  a  terrible  indictment  of  the  system.  There  was  never  a 
law  that  could  give  life.  It  simply  showed  man  his  helplessness  (Gal. 
2 :  I5ff. ;  3 :  21-26 ;  Rom.  7 : 7-end) . 

3.  Thus  Christian  ethics  has  an  inwardness  which  no  other  system 
ever  possessed.  Morals  issue  from  a  new  life  created  within  man's 
heart  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Life  becomes  a  very  much  profounder  con- 
ception. It  is  not  bounded  by  the  present  seen  world,  nor  by  man's  in- 
herent ethical  capacity  or  spiritual  endowment.  It  is  the  perfection  of 
manhood  begotten  anew  by  the  Spirit  of  God  which  shows  itself  in  vir- 
tues of  conduct  (2  Cor.  5:17;  James  1:18;  i  Peter  i :  23 ;  Gal.  5 :  22,  23) . 
God  grants  this  gift  of  life  to  faith.  Faith  lays  hold  of  a  living  Person, 
Jesus  Christ  the  Revealer  of  the  Father,  and  the  Christian  character  is 
the  result. 


45 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  7:   The  Ethical  Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


First  Day  :     How  was  the  Will  of  God  Known  ? 

1.  Since  the  new  Christian  character  springs  from  a  new  life  we  must 
next  consider  the  form  in  which  this  life  expressed  itself.  Funda- 
mentally it  was  a  fulfillment  of  the  will  of  God,  for  this  is  righteous- 
ness (Mark  3  :  35  ;  Rom.  12:2;  Eph.  6:6;  Col.  4 :  12 ;  Heb.  10 :  36 ;  i  John 
2:17).  But  how  was  the  believer  to  discover  the  will  of  God?  Was 
there  any  standard  of  that  will  to  which  the  individual  should  conform? 

2.  This  will  was  made  known  to  them  in  a  variety  of  ways.  There 
was  the  Divine  Spirit  which  dwelt  within  the  heart  and  guided  the  be- 
liever in  the  way  of  God  (Phil.  2:13;  i  Peter  1:2;  4:14;  James  4:6; 
John  14:17;  16:13).  But  this  Spirit  wrought  through  various  agencies 
suggesting  the  will  of  God.  There  was  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
(Rom.  10:14,  15),  for  the  Word  of  God  itself  was  living,  and  appealed 
to  the  heart  (Heb.  4: 12).  The  Spirit  was  also  a  power  within  the  apos- 
tles and  prophets  whose  teaching  and  counsel  directed  the  course  of  the 
brotherhood  (i  Cor.  2:16).  Further,  each  individual  had  his  own  hard 
or  joyous  discipline  in  which  he  could  discover  the  will  of  God.  No  one 
would  conform  to  any  other,  God  having  a  purpose  for  each  (Rom.  8: 
26,  2"];  James  1:2;  i  Peter  1:6,  7). 

3.  But  unquestionably  the  form  and  substance  in  which  the  Spirit 
found  chief  expression  was  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  gave  moment 
to  the  Word  of  God,  to  the  preaching  and  counsel  of  the  apostles,  and 
to  the  private  discipline  of  each  one's  soul.  He  stood  before  them  as  the 
great  Exemplar  of  character.  Did  Jesus  ofifer  Himself  to  be  a  Guide 
unto  life?  (See  Mark  8:34!;  Matt.  28:18-20.)  Why  did  He  call 
men  to  Him?  (Matt.  11 : 27-30.)  He  was  a  teacher  who  could  not  only 
tell  them  the  will  of  God,  but  One  who  embodied  it  in  Himself  (Luke 
22:42-45).  It  was  also  the  view  of  the  apostolic  Church  that  Jesus  had 
fulfilled  the  will  of  God  in  every  respect,  and  that  on  this  account  He 
was  the  standard  to  which  humanity  shall  be  conformed  (John  6:38; 
Eph.  4:13;  Heb.  2:9-11;  10:9). 


46 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  7:   The  Ethical  Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


Second  Day  :    Jesus  Christ  the  Perfect  Exemplar 

1.  Whatever  exalted  conceptions  the  early  brethren  entertained  of  the 
Person  of  the  Messiah,  they  never  forgot  that  He  had  lived  a  truly  hu- 
man life  on  earth  (i  John  4:2,  3).  This  fact  prevented  them  from  be- 
coming mystics  with  an  ideal  floating  in  cloudland.  They  remained 
disciples  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  No  more  proof  can  be  required  for  this 
than  that  so  large  a  part  of  the  New  Testament  is  devoted  to  the  record 
of  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus.  Though  the  gospels  were  later  in  origin 
than  the  most  of  the  epistles,  they  became  the  first  authoritative 
part  of  the  canon.  The  life  of  Jesus  is  also  assumed  to  be  known 
to  the  readers  of  the  epistles.  It  is  probable  that  the  ideal  of  the  earthly 
Jesus  as  presented  to  the  average  Christian  was  of  the  type  which  we 
have  in  the  synoptic  gospels,  for  the  fourth  gospel  did  not  enter  into  the 
general  stream  of  the  Church  life  till  after  the  others  had  been  widely 
circulated  for  some  years. 

2.  But  it  is  difficult  to  determine  how  far  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus 
supplied  the  example  for  the  daily  duties  of  the  Christian.  He  stood 
at  the  beginning  of  their  history,  of  course,  as  the  most  perfect  con- 
ceivable character,  but  His  problems  were  different  from  theirs,  and  they 
could  not  slavishly  copy  His  actions.  It  was  His  mind  which  they  de- 
sired to  possess.  They  became  His  true  followers  through  His  Spirit 
(Phil.  2:5,  12,  13).  He  was  also  the  "Prince  Leader  in  the  faith"  (Heb. 
12:2).  Undoubtedly  much  of  His  instruction  on  matters  of  conduct 
was  remembered,  but  it  is,  as  we  shall  see,  surprising  how  little  of  this 
consisted  of  detailed  precepts.  He  had  given  principles.  His  words 
were  deep,  so  that  no  follower  could  understand  them  by  parrot-like 
repetition,  but  worked  out  his  own  salvation  by  discovering  in  life  their 
import.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  no  new  external  code  of  ethics, 
and  most  of  His  discussions  with  His  opponents,  and  His  parables  were 
illustrative  of  the  right  attitude  of  man  to  God  and  to  his  fellows,  and 
suggestive  of  its  application.  If  the  law  is  the  will  of  God,  what  is  the 
pith  of  it?     (Matt.  22:35-40.) 


47 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  7:   The  Ethical   Ideal  of  the   New  Character 


Third  Day:     Obedience  to  the  Will  of  God  in  Christ 
Brings  True  Freedom 

_  I.  Jesus  is  regarded  by  the  various  writers  from  different  points  of 
view.  To  the  author  of  James  He  is  the  Messiah  who  gave  sanction  to 
the  royal  law  of  the  new  kingdom.  This  law  is  a  law  of  liberty  under 
which  the  fruits  of  divine  wisdom  throve  (James  1:25;  2:8,  12;  3:17, 
18).  Jesus  stands  forth  in  Hebrews  as  One  who  by  His  endurance  of 
the  sufferings  of  a  thoroughly  human  life  became  the  first  who  at- 
tained to  perfect  faith,  and  the  ideal  of  the  believer's  effort  (Heb  2-17 
18;  12:2,  3).  In  First  Peter,  Christ  is  the  Example  (2:21).  According 
to  John  believers  obey  the  commands  of  Christ  which  are  summed  up  in 
love,  Itself  a  reproduction  of  His  own  character,  the  fount  of  love 
(i  John  3:24;  4:7-17). 

2.  It  is  often  said  with  truth  that  Paul  had  a  relatively  small  interest 
in  the  historical  Jesus,  because  he  only  knew  Him  as  the  risen  Christ 
(See,  however,  the  conception  of  His  character  in  Rom.  5:19;  2  Cor  5- 
21;  Phil.  2:5-11;  2  Cor.  8:9.)  Also  a  word  of  Jesus  is  final  (i  Cor.'  7: 
10;  9:14;  I  Cor.  11:23).  Reminiscences  of  His  teaching  may  be  found 
perhaps  in  Rom.  12:14,  I7;  16:19;  i  Cor.  13:2;  i  Thess.  5:2;  2  Thess. 
3:3-  But  he  laid  more  stress  upon  the  character  and  person  of  Jesus 
than  on  the  details  of  His  earthly  life.  Christ  was  for  him  a  present 
living  Person,  yet  One  who  had  lived  on  earth,  and  whose  character  had 
a  very  definite  ethical  content,  which  was  to  be  reproduced  in  the  be- 
liever (Eph.  4:20-24). 

3.  Jesus  Christ  thus  bodied  forth  the  will  of  God.  And  to  have  this 
will  wrought  into  actual  conduct  was  to  be  sanctified  (i  Thess.  4:3;  Heb. 
12:14).  The  comprehensiveness  of  this  sanctification  finds  its  best  ex- 
pression in  Rom.  12 :  i,  2.  But  is  the  will  of  God  so  very  simple,  or  do 
we  require  trained  spiritual  faculties  to  discern  it?  (Heb.  5:14.)  The 
first  step  in  this  process  of  sanctification  is  to  obey  whatever  is  known 
of  God's  will  (2  Cor.  10:5;  Heb.  3 :  12;  4:  i ;  5  :9;  i  Peter  4:17;  i  John 
5:2,3). 

,.4-  .Along  with  obedience  goes  Christian  freedom  (Gal.  5:13).  No 
life  is  like  any  other.  Each  has  its  own  character,  therefore  liberty 
must  be  granted  to  each  to  fulfil]  the  will  of  God  as  the  Spirit  may 
guide.  Paul  met  much  opposition  in  preaching  freedom  from  an  ex- 
ternal legalism,  the  Jewish  Christian  holding  that  this  was  merely  to 
court  license.  How  could  ignorant  Gentiles  be  educated  into  decency 
without  a  law?  (Rom.  6:i2-end.)  He  substitutes  a  Person  as  the 
embodiment  of  the  Divine  will  (Gal.  3:1-5)-  Strange  as  it  may  appear 
they  attained  freedom  when  they  became  slaves  of  Christ  For  He 
being  the  supreme  Person  must  be  the  final  authority,  and  to  acknowl- 
edge Him  brings  true  liberty. 

48 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  7:    The  Ethical   Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


Fourth  Day  :     Love  the  New  and  Best  Fruit  of  the  Spirit 

1.  To  learn  Christ  is  to  put  off  the  old  life,  whether  the  ingrained 
evil  habitude  of  the  Gentiles  (i  Peter  i :  18;  4:2,  3),  or  the  accumulated 
prejudices  and  vices  of  the  Jews— both  of  which  are  in  essence  the 
friendship  of  the  world.  The  world  is  opposed  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
the  Christian  must  renounce  the  worldly  mind  (Matt.  16:23).  The 
mind  of  Christ,  however,  manifests  itself  in  a  unique  character,  the  vir- 
tues of  which  were  a  new  ethical  creation  of  extraordinary  richness. 
Though  they  are  common  to  all  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  it  is 
in  the  epistles  of  Paul  that  they  are  most  fully  described.  The  will  of 
God  for  men  is  partially  expressed  in  what  Paul  calls  "the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit"  (Gal.  5:22,  23;  Eph.  5:9).    Some  of  these  graces  are  as  follows. 

2.  Love.  This  is  the  supreme  virtue  of  Christianity  (i  Cor.  13:13). 
It  is  a  new  word  (dydin])  for  a  new  virtue.  It  does  not  occur  in  clas- 
sical Greek,  and  no  less  remarkable,  the  common  classical  word  for 
the  love  of  passion  (epws)  is  not  found  in  the  New  Testament.  Love 
is  a  motive  power  of  surpassing  efficacy  in  the  realm  of  conduct,  and  is 
in  itself  sufficient  to  distinguish  Christian  ethics  radically  from  pagan 
or  even  Jewish  teaching.  God  is  the  source  of  love  (i  John  4:7,  8,  16, 
19),  and  by  His  Spirit  it  is  shed  upon  our  hearts  (Rom.  5:5).  It  is  a 
new  virtue  because  it  springs  from  the  fact  of  redemption.  Never  until 
Christ  came  was  the  depth  of  the  Father's  love  made  known  to  the 
world  (John  13  :  34 ;  15  :  12 ;  i  John  2:7,  8) . 

3.  Love  is  a  virtue  of  the  whole  man— of  the  mind  because  it  is  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  (Phil.  4:8;  i  Cor.  13:6)  [There  was  a  fine  old 
Greek  virtue— alScis  regard  for  the  sanctity  of  the  divine— which  was 
akin  to  this  intellectual  element  in  Christian  love.]— of  the  will  because  it 
was  a  source  of  unwearied  effort  on  behalf  of  all,  even  one's  enemies 
(Matt.  5:44;  18:21;  I  Cor.  13:6.  7;  Heb.  10:24;  Gal.  6:10)— and  it  is 
burdened  with  the  purest  emotion  (Rom.  8:35-39;  James  2:5-1  Peter 
1:8;  I  John  4:18). 

4.  There  is  an  immense  vocabulary  of  words  denoting  the  qualities 
of  a  lovable  disposition.  It  cannot  indeed  be  claimed  that  goodness  of 
heart  was  a  new  virtue,  for  there  was  at  this  time  a  rising  feeling  of 
sympathy  for  those  under  suffering,  and  there  are  intimations  of  hu- 
manity even  in  classical  authors,  not  a  little  human  kindliness,  and  a  re- 
gard for  the  morally  heroic.  (See  Butcher,  p.  76.)  But  the  Greeks  had 
not  much  more  than  a  fine  instinct,  often  overborne  by  selfishness,  and 

the  utmost  point  that  this  development  reached  fell  considerably  short 
of  the  standard  of  Christian  charity"  (Sidgwick,  p.  no).  In  the  Chris- 
tian, however,  the  heart  is  mellowed  by  the  love  of  God  into  a  goodness 
that  must  find  liberal  expression. 


49 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  7:   The  Ethical   Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


Fifth  Day:     Goodness,  Beneficence,  Longsuffering, 
Patience 


1.  Goodness  and  Beneficence.  These  two  beautiful  words,  the  latter 
of  which  S.'yadwcvi'-r)  is  a  coinage  of  the  Christian  spirit,  are  expres- 
sions of  Christian  love  and  a  great  enrichment  of  morals.  They  signify- 
that  goodness  of  heart  wherein  man  is  most  like  unto  God  (Rom.  15: 
14;  Eph.  5:9;  2  Thess.  i:ii).  Christ  was  preeminently  "good"  (Acts 
10:38;  I  Peter  2:3).  So  the  Christian  has  a  liberal,  generous  soul,  and 
can  afford  to  be  lavish  of  goodness  to  others  because  of  the  boundless 
grace  he  has  experienced  from  God  in  Christ  (Rom.  12:8;  2  Cor.  9: 
11;  Heb.  6:10;  I  John  3:16,  17).  This  goodness  took  on  a  great  many 
different  forms.  Its  possessor  was  open-hearted  and  open-handed,  and, 
though  no  ascetic,  gladly  gave  his  worldly  goods  to  his  brethren.  (See 
the  ideal  of  the  early  Church  in  Acts  2:44-46.)  Is  it  correct  to  call  this 
communism?  When  Christian  goodness  was  directed  towards  the  breth- 
ren it  was  termed  "love  of  the  brethren"  {(piXaSeXtpla),  all  sons  of  a 
heavenly  Father  (i  Thess.  4:9;  Heb.  13:1;  i  Peter  1:22).  This  vir- 
tue gets  expression  also  in  "hospitality"  (Heb.  13:1;  3  John;  Rev.  2: 
19),  and  in  "compassion"  (i  Peter  3:8;  Heb.  10:33,  34;  James  2:14-16). 
Love  abhors  evil,  cleaves  to  the  good  and  overcomes  evil  with  good 
(Rom.  I2:9ff.). 

2.  While  love  is  the  most  comprehensive  of  the  Christian  virtues, 
it  is  probable  that  longsuffering  is  equally  characteristic.  Patience  is 
very  nearly  related  to  longsuffering.  The  former  is  steadfastness 
under  suffering,  perseverance  in  a  course  of  action,  especially  the  con- 
tinuance of  unflagging  zeal  in  distressful  circumstances  (James  5:7-11; 
Heb.  6:12).  Longsuffering  usually  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  forbear- 
ance. The  Christian  shall  not  return  evil  for  evil,  and  is  slow  to  avenge 
a  personal  wrong,  the  supreme  motive  and  example  being  found  in 
the  life  of  his  Master  (Rom.  12:17-21;  i  Peter  3:9-18). 

3.  Is  it  correct  to  say  that  in  the  Christian  ideal  a  passive  patience 
and  endurance  were  substituted  for  the  old  pagan  virtue  of  courage, 
and  that  in  this  respect  Christian  morals  were  deficient?  "In  this  noble 
word  patience  {vwoixovri)  there  always  appears  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment a  background  of  courage  (dvdpela)  ....  It  is  the  brave  patience 
with  which  the  Christian  contends  against  the  various  hindrances,  perse- 
cutions and  temptations  that  befall  him  in  his  conflict  with  the  inward 
and  outward  world"  (Ellicott). 


SO 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  7:   The  Ethical  Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


Sixth  Day  :     Gentleness,  Meekness,  Humility,  Fidelity, 
Self-Restraint 

1.  Gentleness,  meekness,  humility,  are  germane  to  longsufifering. 
Jesus  was  "meek  and  lowly  in  heart."  This  is  also  a  distinctively  Chris- 
tian virtue,  though  the  Greeks  had  a  kindred  conception  in  the  fine  word, 
"equity"  (iTneiKeia)  "sweet  reasonableness,"  which  came  into  the  Chris- 
tian vocabulary  unstained  by  debasing  associations,  and  with  the  best 
traditions  of  pagan  morals  (Acts  24:4;  2  Cor.  10:1;  Phil.  4:5;  James 
3:17). 

2.  Gentleness  was  indeed  not  unknown  among  the  heathen  moralists, 
but  it  was  held  in  low  esteem  by  Aristotle,  whose  ideal  was  the  high- 
minded  man,  he  who  in  his  pride  of  heart  deems  himself  worthy  of 
great  things,  because  he  actually  is  worthy.  "The  Greek  ideal  of  the 
perfect  gentleman  (6  KaXoKdyaOoi)  has  in  it  a  touch  of  aristocratic  senti- 
ment;  it  was  well  fitted  for  the  favored  few,  for  the  gifted,  for  the 
noble,  for  the  strong;  but  it  left  out  of  account  the  disinherited,  the 
fallen,  the  feeble  of  the  earth"  (Butcher,  p.  75).  The  word  which  in 
the  New  Testament  is  translated  humble  {Taireivds)  meant  to  the  Greek 
what  was  abject  and  servile. 

3.  Jesus  made  the  meek  spirit  a  premier  virtue  (Matt.  5:5;  11:29). 
He  called  the  poor  and  the  humble  into  His  kingdom,  all  those  who 
in  spite  of  worldly  oppression  and  adverse  conditions  were  cherishing 
the  hope  that  some  day  they  would  be  able  to  worship  God  in  true  right- 
eousness and  holiness  without  fear  (Luke  1:74,  75).  Meekness  is  no 
natural  disposition,  but  is  an  inwrought  grace  of  the  heart  (Rom.  12: 
3;  I  Peter  3-4,  5)-  It  is  based  on  a  true  knowledge  of  self  as  it  ap- 
pears when  the  spotless  purity  of  Christ's  life  is  flashed  upon  us. 
"Meekness  represses  the  claim  of  personal  merit  because  even  in  the 
saint  there  is  a  continual  sense  of  imperfection,  so  that  he  must  rely  ut- 
terly on  a  strength  that  is  not  his  own"  (Sidgwick,  "Ethics,"  p.  122). 

4.  Other  virtues  such  as  trustworthiness  (i  Cor.  4:2;  Col.  1:2; 
Luke  I2:42ff.)  and  self-restraint  (i  Peter  1:13;  4:7;  i  Tim.  2:9; 
Titus  2 :  12)  were  well  known  to  the  pagans,  but  became  intensified,  the 
one  by  growing  into  loyalty  to  Christ,  the  other  through  the  mastery  of 
a  new  Spirit  controlling  the  Christian  against  a  false  freedom  in  thought 
or  action. 


51 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  7:   The  Ethical   Ideal  of  the  New  Character 


Seventh  Day  :    The  New  Conscience  of  the  World 

1.  It  is  obvious  that  several  of  the  terms  which  we  have  considered 
were  current  in  contemporary  language.  They  may  have  been  familiar 
to  Paul  because  he  was  educated  in  Tarsus,  one  of  the  centers  of  Stoical 
philosophy.  But  they  do  not  all  owe  their  introduction  to  him,  for  the 
conceptions  occur  throughout  the  New  Testament.  Christianity,  how- 
ever, gathered  them  up  together  with  the  four  cardinal  Greek  virtues, 
courage,  self-restraint,  prudence,  and  justice,  mellowing  here,  transform- 
ing there  by  the  subtle  alchemj'  of  faith  and  love,  and  made  them  in- 
gredients among  other  richer  virtues  of  its  own  creation  in  the  new  con- 
science of  the  world.  "That  crowning  triumph  of  ethical  nomenclature, 
conscience  {<Tvveld7i(Tis),"  gets  new  contents  and  sanction  when  Christ 
Himself  in  His  Spirit  becomes  a  conscience  to  the  believer  (Acts  24: 
16 ;  Rom.  2:15;  Heb.  10 :  22 ;  i  Peter  2 :  19) . 

2.  But  not  less  remarkable  is  the  omission  from  the  New  Testament 
of  one  of  the  leading  terms  of  Greek  ethics.  The  word  happiness 
( evSaifMovla)  does  not  occur  in  the  New  Testament,  even  in  the  noble 
conception  given  it  by  Aristotle  (Eth.  Nic.  x.,  7),  though  it  figures  in 
almost  every  moralist  as  the  chief  pursuit  of  life,  and  that  not  only  in 
the  form  of  Stoical  apathy  or  Epicurean  pleasure.  Selfishness  in  any 
aspect,  even  "self-realization"  as  the  aim  of  the  merely  natural  man,  is 
antagonistic  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousness  (Rom.  12:1,  2). 

3.  One  or  two  remarks  as  to  the  ethical  ideal  of  the  New  Testament, 
(a)  The  wonderfully  rich  and  varied  nomenclature  shows  that  a  creative 
power  was  at  work,  ramifying  far  and  wide  in  our  complex  moral  na- 
ture, and  getting  expression  from  every  source  for  a  very  full  standard 
of  conduct,  (b)  The  catalogues  of  vices  illustrate  the  nature  of  the 
awful  forces  the  new  religion  had  to  face,  and  how  closely  the  morals 
of  the  world  were  studied  (i  Cor.  5 :  lof. ;  Gal.  5:19;  Rom.  i:29flF. : 
I  Peter  4:3;  James  and  Revelation  passim),  (c)  It  was  positive, includ- 
ing duty  to  God,  man  and  one's  self  (Titus  2: 12),  a  life  complete  because 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Christianity  was  not  ascetism,  nor  the  renun- 
ciation of  the  world  alone,  (d)  It  was  not  a  system  of  sporadic  virtues, 
nor  an  ineffective  dream  like  Stoicism.  It  professed  to  be  fruit  from  a 
new  principle  of  life  created  within  the  heart  by  t_he_  Spirit  pi  (jod  in 
Christ.  (On  this  study  see  Newman  Smyth's  "Christian  Ethics";  E.  v. 
Dobschlitz's,  "The  Churches  of  Primitive  Christendom" — soon  to  be 
translated.) 


52 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:    The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


First  Day:     The  Evil  Condition  of  Home  Life  Among 
Romans  and  Greeks 

1.  Our  home  and  our  intercourse  with  immediate  friends  supply  the 
amplest  opportunity  for  the  discipline  of  character.  In  our  conduct 
towards  those  with  whom  we  share  the  intimacies  of  life  three-fourths 
of  the  web  of  destiny  are  woven.  It  is  a  perversion  of  judgment  against 
which  reason  often  protests  to  assign  rank  to  manhood  according  to 
public  performance  alone.  The  region  of  the  commonplace  is  the  bat- 
tlefield of  character ;  and  of  this  region  the  home  forms  the  largest  por- 
tion in  most  lives.  Wherefore  we  desire  to  put  the  Christian  ideal, 
which  has  just  been  outlined,  to  the  searching  test  of  how  it  was  wrought 
out  in  simple  everyday  life. 

2.  The  contemporary  world  seemed  to  have  lost  its  power  of  protect- 
ing human  love  from  impurity.  In  spite  of  the  favorable  opinion  of 
Dr.  Hatch  that  "there  was  in  ancient  Rome,  as  there  is  in  modern  Lon- 
don, a  preponderating  mass  of  those  who  loved  their  children  and  their 
homes,  who  were  good  neighbors  and  faithful  friends,  who  conscien- 
tiously discharged  their  civil  duties,  and  were  in  all  the  current  senses 
of  the  word  'moral'"  ("Greek  Ideas,"  etc.,  139,  140),  there  are  only  too 
strong  grounds  for  holding  that  both  in  the  Roman  and  the  Greek 
world  the  home  life  was  degraded.  There  were  of  course  frequent  ex- 
amples of  conjugal  felicity  (how  awful  must  it  have  been  otherwise!), 
but  a  flood  of  immorality  from  the  East  and  from  the  provinces  swept 
over  Italy  during  the  later  Republic.  Selfishness  led  to  celibacy,  many 
of  the  finer  spirits  espoused  ascetism,  and  the  emperor  introduced  legis- 
lation to  encourage  marriage,  lest  the  empire  should  become  childless. 

3.  Greece  even  in  the  days  of  her  intellectual  preeminence  had  been 
in  worse  case  than  Rome.  The  wife  was  not  the  equal  of  her  husband, 
and  he,  if  a  man  of  education,  would  consort  with  brilliant  courtesans 
known  as  heteurce,  who  were  accorded  an  admiration  which  it  is  im- 
possible for  us  to  conceive.  "We  must  face  the  fact  that  the  very  period 
which  is  renowned  in  Greek  literature  and  art  as  that  of  greatest  splen- 
dor was  a  time  also  of  moral  rottenness."  (Bliimner,  "Home  Life  of 
Ancient  Greeks,"  ch.  iv. ;  Lecky,  "European  Morals,"  ch.  v.)  Instead 
of  improving  as  the  years  went  by,  the  life  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece 
had  lost  its  restraint,  and  was  quite  depraved  when  the  gospel  was  first 
preached. 


53 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:  The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


Second  Day:     The  Purity  of  the  Jewish  Home  Inherited 
BY  Christianity 


1.  In  contrast  to  the  heathen  world  the  Hebrew  had  an  almost  ideal 
home  life.  In  the  Old  Testament  ascetism  has  no  place,  virginity  is  no 
virtue,  and  the  family  is  a  token  of  God's  blessing  (Ps.  127).  Rever- 
ence of  parents  by  the  children  is  not  only  enjoined  in  the  Decalogue, 
but  has  a  blessing  attached  (Ex.  20:12).  On  the  whole  these  traits 
are  preserved  in  later  Judaism,  which  exalted  purity,  and  encouraged 
education ;  and  no  finer  pictures  of  the  gracious  and  peaceful  homes 
of  "the  poor"  can  be  found  than  those  in  Luke  i  and  2.  Some  Jewish 
doctors  of  the  law,  it  is  true,  allowed  divorce  for  trifling  cause,  but  there 
were  equally  influential  teachers  who  were  strict,  and  whose  judgment 
would  be  accepted  by  the  average  Jew.     (See  Matt.  I9:3ff.) 

2.  But  Judaism  had  no  great  influence  in  this  respect  upon  the  morals 
of  the  empire.  Indeed  the  Jew  felt  that  his  own  safety  consisted  in 
avoiding  the  pollutions  of  the  heathen  world,  and  we  cannot  be  surprised 
that  not  only  were  marriages  with  unbelievers  forbidden,  but  also  that 
it  was  a  condition  that  a  proselyte  to  Judaism  should  on  his  conversion 
be  separated  from  the  unbelieving  partner,  lest  the  heathen  influences  of 
the  home  should  prove  too  much  for  the  purer  life  of  the  synagogue. 

3.  Christianity  thus  started  with  a  fine  tradition  concerning  mar- 
riage. Its  followers  brought  with  them  a  noble  austerity  in  regard  to 
personal  purity  and  the  sacredness  of  the  home.  Indeed  it  began  as  a 
house  religion.  The  brotherhood  was  a  large  family  which  was  protected 
by  love  against  invasion  by  the  spirit  of  the  world.  As  a  rule  the  or- 
dinary homes  were  not  broken  up,  for  it  was  only  the  few  whom  Jesus 
asked  to  renounce  these  in  order  to  follow  Him  (Luke  14:26).  Hus- 
bands and  wives,  parents  and  children  still  loved  one  another.  The 
husband  who  returned  from  the  love  feast  would  reverence  his  wife 
with  a  gentler  chastity,  and  cherish  his  child  with  a  diviner  affection. 
It  is  probable  indeed  that  the  worth  of  marriage  was  affected  by  the 
conditions  of  that  age.  Since  there  was  need  to  proclaim  the  gospel 
with  all  haste  to  a  perishing  world,  many  had  to  forsake  their  settled 
homes  (Matt.  19:12),  and  the  expectation  that  Jesus  would  soon  re- 
turn also  had  its  influence  (i  Cor.  7:26-35). 


54 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:    The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic   Life 


Third  Day:     The  Christian  Conception  of  Marriage 


1.  In  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  Jesus  who  invested  the  marriage 
relation  with  religious  sanction  (Mark  10:6-12),  Paul  ennobles  it  by 
the  highest  possible  comparison.  It  becomes  the  type  of  the  union  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  Church.  Thus  marriage  is  at  once  consecrated  by 
religion,  and  natural  affection  is  thereby  enriched  as  with  the  mellow- 
ness and  color  of  ripened  fruit  (Eph.  5:22-33).  Husband  and  wife  are 
fellow  heirs  of  life.  Therefore  their  home  must  be  pervaded  by  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  and  their  days  should  be  spent  in  good  works  and  the 
practice  of  their  faith  (i  Peter  3:7). 

2.  Family  duties  are  outlined  especially  for  those  readers  whose 
Gentile  antecedents  had  provided  no  strong  foundation  on  which  to 
build  a  good  home.  A  chaste  and  reverent  love  is  enjoined  on  the  hus- 
band towards  his  wife,  because  she  is  a  part  of  himself.  His  duties 
are  kindly  consideration,  nay,  honor,  just  because  though  they  are  equal 
in  the  sight  of  God  she  needs  his  help  and  protection  (Eph.  5:25,  28; 
I  Peter  3:7).  Of  the  woman  respectful  submission  is  required,  proba- 
bly a  necessary  injunction  because  through  reaction  from  former  re- 
pression she  might  be  in  danger  of  abusing  her  liberty  (Eph.  5:22,  23; 
I  Peter  3:  1-6).  Modesty  in  mien  and  attire,  a  life  full  of  restraint,  and 
graced  by  good  works  are  becoming  in  a  mother  of  the  true  Israel 
(i  Tim.  2:9-12). 

3.  "In  Paul's  teaching  we  have  all  the  elements  of  the  perception 
that  the  unique  union  of  marriage  was  also  the  birthplace  of  an  unprece- 
dented and  incomparable  ethical  culture,  and  precisely  in  the  form  of  a 
union  in  the  faith  was  to  attain  its  highest  development."  (Weizsacker, 
"Apostolic  Age,"  II.,  p.  390.) 

4.  Much  difficulty  was  occasioned  by  the  mixed  marriages  of  Chris- 
tians and  unbelievers.  It  is  dealt  with  in  i  Cor.  7:12-14.  Here  the 
Christian  ideal  moves  on  a  higher  plane  than  the  Jewish.  The  Jew 
said  to  the  proselyte.  Leave  your  unbelieving  partner  and  escape  pollu- 
tion. The  Christian,  secure  in  the  power  of  the  gospel,  says,  Overcome 
the  world  by  living  with  your  partner,  wherever  that  is  agreeable  to 
both,  in  order  that  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  work- 
ing in  the  Christian  life  may  soften  the  other's  heart.  Thus  in  mar- 
riage the  creative  power  of  the  new  religion  was  manifested.  Its  very 
sacredness  and  inviolability  makes  it  a  lever  for  propagating  the  faith. 
Christianity  was  not  helpless  in  the  face  of  the  impurity  of  the  world. 
It  proposed  to  conquer  the  world  even  in  the  home. 


55 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  8:   The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


Fourth  Day:     The  Child;  Purity;  Chivalry;  Woman's 

Dignity 

1.  In  another  respect  Jewish  practice  had  been  a  constant  rebuke  to 
the  heathen  world — its  abhorrence  of  infanticide  or  the  exposure  of 
children.  In  spite  of  strong  sentiment  against  it  and  severe  repressive 
legislation,  the  practice  was  frightfully  common.  Christianity  again 
deepened  the  sacredness  of  life.  The  child  becomes  the  figure  of  the 
spirit  to  which  the  gates  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  stand  open  (Mark 
10:14,  15.  16;  I  Cor.  7:14;  Eph.  6:4).  From  the  new  religion  there 
issued  a  flood  of  sympathy,  and  the  cry  of  the  children  entered  into  the 
ears  of  the  brotherhood  of  love,  who  soon  organized  a  system  of  relief 
for  orphans  and  the  destitute.  The  principle  is  found  in  James  1:27. 
(See  Lecky,  II.,  ch.  iv.) 

2.  No  less  characteristic  of  the  Christian  ideal  is  the  standard  of 
individual  purity  which  is  consistently  held  forth  in  every  part  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  laxity  of  morals  made  the  progress  of  the  new 
religion  particularly  difficult,  and  the  epistles  afford  abundant  evidence 
that  one  of  the  most  frequent  trials  of  the  brethren  was  found  in  the 
reversions  of  their  fellow  believers  to  Gentile  sensuality  (i  Thess.  4: 1-8; 
I  Cor.  5:6,  7 ;  10: 1-13;  I  Peter  2:11,  12;  4:1-6;  Rev.  2: 14,  15,  20,  21). 
But  the  gospel  was  effective  and  a  new  sense  of  chastity  was  wrought 
out  in  these  Christian  circles. 

3.  Woman  was  also  raised  to  a  new  dignity  by  the  place  assigned  her 
in  the  church.  Jesus  Himself  had  set  the  example  of  gracious  courtesy 
(John  4:27;  Luke  7:36-end;  10:38-41),  and  this  was  soon  displayed 
by  his  followers  in  a  fine  chivalry  towards  women.  This  was  all  the 
more  remarkable  because  the  position  of  woman  in  the  Greek  world, 
and  the  former  life  of  degradation  from  which  many  of  the  Chris- 
tians had  been  rescued,  afforded  many  delicate  problems  in  respect 
to  her  function  and  worth  in  the  life  of  the  Church  (i  Cor.  7:8;  11: 
3-6;  i4:34fT.). 

4.  And  woman  responded  gladly  to  a  gospel  which  offered  her  so 
much.  Large  numbers  flocked  into  the  church.  Not  only  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Macedonia,  where  the  sex  had  long  enjoyed  higher  privileges 
than  elsewhere,  are  there  honorable  women  not  a  few  (Acts  16:14; 
Phil.  4: 2), but  possibly  in  Colossae  a  wealthy  matron  provided  the  church 
with  a  home  (Col.  4:15).  For  others  see  Rom.  16:1,  3,  especially  that 
extraordinary  woman  Priscilla,  who  did  not  preside  over  a  house-church, 
but  was  a  missionary,  and  even  taught  the  cultured  Apollos  (Acts  18: 
26).  Numbers  of  the  most  ardent  propagandists  of  the  cross  and  of 
its  most  enduring  martyrs  were  women,  and  this  continued  to  be  the 
case,  very  many  of  them  Gentile  by  birth,  often  indeed  drawn  from 
the  imperial  society  (See  Harnack's  "Ausbreitung  des  Christenthums," 
P-  398.) 

S6 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:    The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


Fifth  Day:     Slavery  in  the  Pagan  World 


I.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  slavery  had  proved  a  great  curse  to 
the  ancient  world.  In  the  Greek  cities  especially  slaves  formed  a  large 
factor  in  the  population,  and  they  were  dragged  in  multitudes  at  the 
heels  of  the  Roman  conquerors  of  the  later  republic  and  earlier  empire 
as  they  returned  home.  Throughout  Italy  and  the  provinces  country 
estates  were  worked  by  gangs  of  slaves  whose  absentee  masters  gave  no 
heed  to  their  hapless  condition,  so  woe-begone  that,  as  Mommsen 
says,  in  comparison  with  them,  "it  is  quite  possible  that  the  sum  of  all 
negro  sufferings  is  but  a  drop."  The  state  of  matters  in  the  city  was 
better;  "The  bookkeeper,  the  merchant's  clerk,  the  reader,  and  private 
secretary  of  the  man  of  position,  his  agent,  the  tutor  of  his  children, 
his  family  physician,  the  actor,  and  the  prima  donna  were  not  engaged, 
but  bougjjit"  (Zahn).  Slave  service  was  essential  to  the  life  of  culture 
which  the  wealthier  classes  enjoyed.  Slaves  lived  to  do  the  pleasure  of 
their  masters.  It  would  not  be  just  to  judge  of  the  average  condition 
of  the  slave  by  the  frightful  stories  of  outrage  perpetrated  on  the  slaves 
by  monsters  of  cruelty,  for  frequently  the  relations  were  of  the  most 
kindly  sort.  But  the  slave  remained  the  absolute  property  of  one  who 
could  dispose  of  him  at  will,  and  where  there  was  nothing  but  a  natural 
kindliness  to  restrain  caprice,  the  coarseness  of  the  age  led  to  an  excess 
of  brutality  rather  than  of  humanity.  Accustomed  to  hear  the  saying, 
"As  many  enemies  as  there  are  slaves,"  the  average  Roman  would  ask. 
Is  he  a  person  or  a  chattel  ?  What  was  there  left  to  one  who  was  forbid- 
den the  rights  of  married  life,  of  citizenship,  of  public  recognition,  in- 
deed of  anything  he  could  call  his  own?  While  it  is  impossible  to 
estimate  exactly  the  slave  population,  it  is  probably  below  the  mark 
to  put  down  that  of  the  city  of  Rome  at  three  hundred  thousand.  Many 
of  them  were  depraved  Orientals,  and  coming  in  like  a  flood  they  intro- 
duced vicious  ideas  and  practices,  undermined  the  purity  of  the  home  and 
corrupted  public  morals. 

But  there  was  a  wave  of  humanity  spreading  over  that  world.  Epic- 
tetus,  the  greatest  of  Roman  moralists,  was  once  a  slave ;  the  Stoics  ex- 
erted a  wide  influence  for  good,  and  Seneca  writes :  "He  is  a  slave, 
you  say.  Yet  perchance  he  is  free  in  spirit.  He  is  a  slave.  Will  this 
harm  him?  Show  me  who  is  not.  One  is  a  slave  to  lust,  another  to 
avarice,  a  third  to  ambition,  all  alike  to  fear."  (See  Lecky,  I.,  262; 
Dobschiitz,  "Die  urchristlichen  Gemeinden,"  Appendix.) 


57 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:  The   Christian  Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


Sixth  Day:     Christianity's  Advance  Towards  the 
Solution  of  the  Problem  of  Slavery 

1.  The  Stoics  did  much  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  slave  by 
diffusing  kindlier  sentiments  and  in  particular  by  their  influence  on  in- 
dividual masters ;  but  they  were  primarily  philosophers,  their  teaching 
was  largely  theoretic,  and  "there  was  an  intellectual  one-sidedness  and 
false  pathos  for  the  woes  of  the  time"  (Heinrici). 

2.  Judaism  held  an  incomparably  higher  position  in  this  matter.  In 
the  Old  Testament  slaves  were  part  of  the  family,  for  whom  as  for  his 
children  the  head  of  the  house  was  responsible.  They  shared  the  re- 
ligion of  Israel  and  were  treated  as  human  beings.  But  Judaism  had 
always  remained  more  or  less  isolated,  and  it  seems  to  have  drawn  but 
few  of  its  proselytes  from  the  slave  ranks.  Humane  as  the  Jews  were 
they  made  no  definite  contribution  to  the  slave  question  after  the  close 
of  the  Old  Testament. 

3.  Wherein  did  Christianity  make  an  effective  contribution  to  this 
awful  problem?  The  apostles  introduce  no  new  theory  as  to  slavery, 
for  they  seem  to  have  gone  out  into  the  world  with  the  Jewish  ideal, 
but  they  do  initiate  a  marvelously  original  and  bold  practice.  While 
philosophers  dreamed  the  Christians  accepted  slaves  as  brethren,  and 
they  became  new  men.  Whether  or  not  he  was  a  "person"  on  earth,  the 
slave  was  a  citizen  of  the  eternal  Kingdom  of  God,  and  there  and  then 
he  was  ushered  into  a  fellowship  of  love,  which  was  no  theory,  but  a 
social  fact  of  tremendous  ethical  power.  The  religious  basis  for  this  is 
given  in  Gal  3:28.  Where  in  all  literature  is  there  a  more  charming 
picture  than  the  letter  of  Paul  to  Philemon?  The  believing  slave  be- 
comes a  member  of  a  Christian  home  and  is  treated  as  children  are, 
while  the  unbelieving  slave  rests  upon  the  heart  of  his  master  as  a  life 
to  be  won  for  his  Lord.  What  a  change  has  passed  upon  that  society 
when  master  and  slave  sit  round  a  common  table,  unite  their  prayers, 
and  greet  one  another  with  a  kiss  of  love.  Is  it  possible  to  discover 
anywhere  a  finer  delicacy  than  is  attested  by  the  absence  of  all  reference 
to  servitude  from  the  multitudes  of  inscriptions  in  the  Roman  cata- 
combs, though  the  Church  was  reproached  with  having  become  a  refuge 
for  the  poor  and  the  slaves? 


58 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  8:   The  Christian   Ideal  of  Domestic  Life 


Seventh  Day  :     Slavery  and  Work 

1.  To  sum  up  the  attitude  of  Christianity  to  slavery.  It  was  no  less 
remarkable  in  what  it  omitted  than  in  what  it  enjoined,  (i)  Slavery 
is  accepted  as  a  public  institution,  and  the  Christian  slave  must  submit 
to  his  lot  (i  Cor.  7:20-24;  i  Peter  2:18;  i  Tim.  6:1).  (2)  The  slave 
has  a  spiritual  freedom  that  makes  him  superior  to  his  lot,  and  a  com- 
pensating joy  as  a  brother  beloved  (Eph.  6:6,  7).  (3)  Christian  mas- 
ters must  mitigate  the  disabilities  of  their  slaves,  whether  Christian  or 
non-Christian  (Eph.  6:9).  (4)  Eventually  the  spirit  of  love  and 
equality  led  to  frequent  manumission,  and  has  resulted  in  the  conscience 
of  the  modern  world. 

2.  Some  acute  problems  emerged,  (i)  For  slaves  with  heathen  mas- 
ters. Doubtless  they  were  allowed  to  practise  their  religion,  though  it 
often  brought  them  petty  persecution  (i  Peter  2:18-21),  and  to  return 
from  the  freedom  of  the  brotherhood  to  the  temptations  of  their  pagan 
life  was  hard,  being  a  severe  discipline  against  which  they  fretted.  (2) 
For  slaves  with  believing  masters.  There  was  danger  from  the  levelling 
instinct,  the  undue  assertion  of  privilege,  against  which  Eph.  6:5-8; 
I  Tim.  6:1,  2  are  directed. 

3.  One  of  the  worst  results  of  slavery  was  the  false  view  of  life  en- 
gendered in  the  free  classes.  Manual  labor  was  shunned  by  the  free 
citizen,  the  word  "mechanical"  (^dvavcros)  being  applied  with  con- 
tempt to  the  handicraftsman.  Agriculture  was  held  in  somewhat  higher 
esteem  because  troops  of  slaves  did  the  menial  work.  But  the  gospel 
went  first  to  the  cities,  and  had  to  face  the  problem  of  the  "working- 
men."  Was  the  Christian  freeman  to  demean  himself  by  work? 
(i  Thess.  4:11;  2  Thess.  3:10,  12.  For  Paul's  own  practice  see  i  Cor. 
9:6-19;  2  Thess  3:7-9.)  Christianity  came  with  a  healthy  tonic  of  work 
to  a  world  which  was  wearing  out  in  idleness  and  stupid  pride. 

4.  In  spite  of  their  belief  in  the  speedy  coming  of  Christ  the  believers 
took  the  present  life  earnestly.  The  Kingdom  of  God  was  not  merely  a 
future  event  (Rom.  14:17-19).  Strange  as  it  may  appear  moral  intui- 
tions, ethical  principles  and  concrete  righteousness  in  everyday  life  were 
strongest  just  in  that  community  of  people  who  were  most  other- 
worldly (i  Thess.  5:1-11).  The  dynamic  of  Christian  love  wrought 
the  Christian  teaching  of  divine  sonship  into  a  domestic  life  of  great 
originality,  comprehensiveness  and  charm.  To-day  the  worth  of  Chris- 
tianity is  still  to  be  gauged  by  its  power,  not  by  its  theory.  What  is 
its  dynamic  in  my  own  life  and  in  that  of  the  world? 


59 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in  Pubhc  Life 


First  Day:     Christianity  Becomes  an   Illicit  Religion 

1.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  Christian  was  subjected  to  much 
distress  because  of  the  fact  that  as  in  other  ancient  religions  there  was 
also  in  that  of  the  Roman  Empire  a  large  political  factor.  No  good 
patriot  could  abjure  the  religion  of  the  state.  But  the  case  was  pe- 
culiarly aggravated  for  the  Christian  because  the  emperors  were  sup- 
posed to  be  incarnations  of  the  spirit  of  the  empire,  and  divine  honors 
were  paid  to  the  hero-genius  of  imperial  Rome  during  his  lifetime,  and 
after  his  death  he  was  consecrated  with  celestial  dignity.  Such  a  system 
was  bound  to  demoralize  both  the  subjects  who  paid  and  the  monarchs 
who  received  this  homage.  Barring  this  essential  demand  of  worship 
of  the  emperor,  there  was  an  easy-going  toleration  of  any  and  every 
superstition  or  cult  that  each  tribe  or  petty  nation  brought  with  it  into 
the  imperial  system.  Many  thought  that  the  same  god  was  worshiped 
under  these  different  forms,  and  therefore  that  one  was  as  good  as  an- 
other. 

2.  There  was,  however,  one  remarkable  exception.  The  alien  Jew 
lived  apart  in  his  own  tribes  throughout  the  cities  of  the  empire,  and 
enjoyed  exemption  from  conformity  to  state  idolatry.  For  some  years 
the  Christian  was  regarded  as  a  Jew  and  shared  in  this  exemption. 
Indeed  he  was  first  persecuted  by  the  Jew  and  looked  to  the  Roman  to 
protect  him  from  men  of  his  own  race  (Acts  18:12-17).  The  powers 
that  be  are  a  restraint  upon  lawlessness  (Rom.  13:1-7;  i  Peter  2:13-17). 
But  a  change  came  ere  long,  and  was  accelerated  by  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem in  A.  D.  70.  It  was  manifest  that  the  Christians  were  distinct  from 
the  Jews,  and  that  unlike  them  they  were  not  a  nation,  but  a  "new,  and 
wicked,  and  vain  superstition."  So  they  received  no  privileges.  Un- 
protected by  any  national  breastwork  they  were  like  a  dangerous  island 
shoal  of  hateful  human  drift  exposed  to  the  sweep  of  the  empire's  out- 
raged patriotism.  In  i  Peter  4:16;  5:9,  we  can  feel  the  ground-swell 
of  the  coming  storm,  and  in  Revelation  it  has  broken  in  all  its  fury. 
Again  and  again  through  the  early  centuries  imperial  persecution  thun- 
dered upon  this  island  in  the  ocean  of  paganism,  but  it  merely  cast  the 
beach  higher,  and  made  a  protection  which  its  waves  could  not  pass. 
(See  Lecky;  Westcott's  "Epistles  of  St.  John,"  Essay,  "The  Two  Em- 
pires.") 


60 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in   Public  Life 


Second   Day  :     Difficulties   for  the   Christian    Patriot 


1.  The  Christian  religion  separated  patriotism  from  religion  for  the 
first  time.  Homage  paid  to  an  emperor  is  one  thing;  homage  paid  to 
God  is  another.  The  state  has  a  right  to  demand  the  one;  it  has  no 
right  to  interfere  with  the  other.  At  the  same  time  the  Christian  did 
not  cease  to  be  a  citizen.  Undoubtedly  the  belief  that  the  world  would 
soon  pass  away  blunted  the  edge  of  his  earthly  patriotism,  but  he  still 
had  his  duties  to  perform  to  ordered  government.  Now  when  we  con- 
sider the  trials  to  which  he  was  exposed,  it  will  appear  that  it  was  an 
immense  accomplishment  that  he  should  have  remained  loyal.  There 
was  much  of  course  that  he  could  admire,  especially  in  the  government 
of  the  provinces,  for  it  was  on  the  whole  a  stable  power  making  for 
order.  But  Rome  came  also  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  world  spirit, 
the  deification  of  force,  an  idolatrous  perversion  of  government,  which 
entailed  vast  suffering  upon  the  brethren.  Yet  they  prayed  for  the  em- 
peror and  continued  to  pray  for  him  in  their  daily  service  even  while  the 
fiercest  persecutions  were  raging.  Did  ever  any  oppressed  people  show 
such  discrimination  and  such  magnificent  ethical  restraint?  What  finer 
exhibition  is  there  of  the  power  of  love  than  this  practice?  They  knew 
of  course  that  they  belonged  to  another  empire,  eternal  and  universal. 
In  the  present  they  were  nominal  citizens.  In  the  other  their  names 
are  truly  written.  They  were  an  empire  within  an  empire,  recognized 
soon  as  a  "third  class." 

2.  The  imperial  idolatry  like  a  subtle  poison  defiled  almost  every 
department  of  public  life.  Take  the  military  system.  The  old  Roman 
virtues  had  been  of  that  patriotic  order  which  is  encouraged  by  the 
profession  of  arms.  It  might  seem  at  first  sight  strange  that  the 
brethren  whose  gospel  was  in  its  essence  love  should  be  found  in  the 
army.  But  many  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  were  Christian  (Acts  10: 
i;  Phil.  1:13),  and  they  would  be  peculiarly  heroic  because  their  con- 
fession would  often  bring  them  into  direct  collision  with  the  idolatrous 
worship  of  the  emperors,  as  its  emblems  appeared  on  the  standards  and 
otherwise.  Yet  the  Christian  is  never  urged  to  withdraw  from  the 
army.    This  is  his  field  for  self-discipline  and  victory. 


61 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in  Public  Life 


Third  Day:    Temptations  in  Business  and  Social  Life 

1.  Many  of  the  hardest  temptations  of  the  average  Christian  arose 
from  his  being  called  upon  not  to  flee  from  idolatry,  but  to  face  it,  for  it 
met  him  everywhere.  He  did  business  as  before,  but  his  trade  was  af- 
fected by  it,  several  occupations  being  dependent  on  temple  worship,  the 
practice  of  magic,  or  heathen  rites.  We  have  early  proof  of  such  in- 
terference in  Acts  19:23-41.  Various  arts  of  life  must  have  occasioned 
scruples  of  conscience  to  those  who  when  they  became  Christians  had  to 
earn  a  livelihood  at  their  old  trade.  Early  Christian  art  in  the  Cata- 
combs shows  how  with  the  growing  years  painters  and  sculptors  of  no 
mean  order  consecrated  their  brush  or  chisel  to  Christian  service,  the 
new  spirit  gradually  transforming  the  old  pagan  devices,  blotting  out 
unworthy  forms,  and  creating  fresh  designs  with  Christian  symbolism. 

2.  In  the  pursuit  of  ordinary  business  the  Christian  was  liable  to  be 
brought  into  the  law  courts.  The  Jews  had  been  granted  special 
tribunals  of  their  own,  before  which  they  could  come  to  terms  with  a 
fellow  Jew,  but  no  such  privilege  of  course  was  enjoyed  by  adherents 
of  an  illicit  religion.  Unbelievers  took  advantage  of  the  Christian's 
passivity  to  drag  him  into  public  on  false  charges,  and  the  spirit  in 
which  this  is  to  be  endured  is  given  in  i  Peter  4:15-  16.  Scandals, 
however,  arose  when  under  the  old  habit  of  litigation  brother  went  to 
law  with  brother  before  a  heathen  judge  (i  Cor.  6:5-7).  Doubtless  the 
words  of  Jesus  (Matt.  5:38ff.,  18:15-20)  set  the  standard  in  such 
matters. 

3.  A  graver  source  of  danger  lay  in  the  social  intercourse  of  the 
believer  with  his  former  associates.  The  cities  of  Asia  Minor  and 
Greece  were  full  of  clubs  for  every  conceivable  purpose,  religion,  com- 
merce, social  enjoyment,  and  burial.  To  cut  one's  self  off  from  club  life 
was  to  cease  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  world,  and  to  the  blithe  Greek  that 
was  a  serious  matter.  There  were  two  perils  connected  with  it.  Idola- 
try was  entrenched  in  this  social  custom  as  in  a  fastness.  The  club 
house  was  often  an  idol  temple  and  the  scene  of  such  revellings  as 
those  of  I  Peter  4:3,  4.  Hence  Paul  forbids  Christians  to  share  in 
these  feasts  (i  Cor.  10:1-22),  and  enjoins  them  to  find  their  fellowship 
in  the  society  of  the  brethren,  where  chaste  love  reigns  (cf.  Rev.  2: 
13,  14).  As  to  eating  meat  exposed  in  the  markets  after  it  had  been 
offered  to  idols,  Paul  says  that  the  law  of  love  must  be  the  standard 
here  also  (i  Cor.  8:1-13). 


62 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in   PubHc  Life 


Fourth  Day  :    The  Victory  over  the  Passion  for  the 
Games 

1.  Nowhere  did  the  new  religion  face  heavier  odds  than  when  it  met 
the  fierce  passion  of  the  populace  for  games  and  gladiatorial  shows. 
And  yet  we  have  hardly  a  trace  of  it  in  the  New  Testament;  not  be- 
cause the  struggle  was  not  keen,  for  the  people  of  Rome  were  shouting, 
panem  et  circenses.  The  thirst  for  blood  grew  so  fast  by  what  it  fed 
upon,  that  even  in  the  first  century  it  could  be  slaked  only  by  an  un- 
ceasing stream  from  animals  and  men.  By  the  thousands  they  came 
to  their  death,  while  Rome  in  all  her  social  ranks  kept  holiday  in  the 
great  Colosseum,  which  gave  shelter  under  silken  canopies  to  over 
fifty  thousand  spectators.  The  earth  was  scoured  for  the  lions,  bears 
and  elephants  wherewith  variety  might  be  added  to  the  carnage,  for  the 
viler  the  games,  the  bloodier  and  more  refinedly  shocking  the  deaths, 
the  greater  the  zest  not  only  of  coarse  slaves,  but  of  aristocratic  ladies. 
The  emperors  gave  the  people  what  they  craved,  but  they  ruined  the 
manhood  of  the  empire,  for  this  horrid  cruelty  soon  spread  from  Rome 
to  the  provinces.  Some  voices  it  is  true  were  raised  in  protest  against 
the  gladiatorial  combats,  but  they  were  of  no  avail,  and  the  fact  that 
edicts  of  emperors  were  ineffectual  to  cope  with  the  evil  finally  till  the 
reign  of  Honorius,  A.  D.  404,  shows  how  the  populace  were  absorbed 
in  this  passion. 

2.  Silently  and  with  immense  moral  suasion  the  gospel  draws  the 
brethren  away  from  the  amphitheatre  one  by  one,  and  as  each  turns 
from  a  scene  which  he  must  quit  forever,  it  protects  him  with  a  shield 
of  holier  fellowship.  Life  is  worth  too  much  to  God  to  be  cruelly 
shed  in  order  to  satisfy  a  multitude.  Christ  has  died  for  the  slave  and 
the  barbarian  gladiator.  Even  the  dumb  animals  are  a  part  of  the 
creation  which  is  to  share  in  the  blessings  of  redemption  (Rom.  8: 
18-22). 

3.  "These  games  display  more  vividly  than  any  mere  philosophical 
disquisition  the  abyss  of  depravity  into  which  it  is  possible  for  human 
nature  to  sink.  They  furnish  us  with  striking  proofs  of  the  reality  of 
the  moral  progress  we  have  attained,  and  they  enable  us  in  some  degree 
to  estimate  the  regenerating  influence  that  Christianity  has  exercised 
in  the  world.  For  the  destruction  of  the  gladiatorial  games  is  all  its 
work.  Philosophers  indeed  might  deplore  them,  gentle  natures  might 
shrink  from  their  contagion,  but  to  the  multitude  they  possessed  a 
fascination  which  nothing  hut  the  new  religion  could  overcome." 
(Lecky,  I.,  282;  see  also  Lanciani's  "Ruins  and  Excavations  of  Ancient 
Rome,"  369-374-) 


63 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in  PubHc  Life 


Fifth  Day  :     A  True  and  a  False  Isolation 


1.  Christianity  met  this  craving  for  amusement  by  a  stern  call  to 
higher  work.  The  gospel  has  a  strenuous  ideal  (Luke  I4:26ff.).  Re- 
ligious enthusiasm,  even  speaking  with  tongues,  counts  for  little  without 
the  works  of  love  (Matt.  13:20,  21;  Luke  13:23-27;  i  Cor.  14:12). 
There  was  no  place  for  drones  in  a  community  whose  duty  was  urgent 
to  preach  the  gospel  (2  Thess.  3:6-15).  This  heightening  of  the  value 
of  life  and  of  time  was  an  immense  moral  advance  in  an  empire  where 
only  the  slave  toiled.  Christianity  allied  herself  with  the  needy  and  with 
unpopular  causes,  when  the  road  to  life  lay  that  way.  She  showed  a 
heroic  indifference  to  clamor,  a  "splendid  isolation."  Like  their  Mas- 
ter the  disciples  refused  to  bow  down  and  worship  Satan  in  order  to 
win  the  world.  In  the  long  run  it  is  just  by  this  course  that  true  vic- 
tories over  the  world  are  still  gained. 

2.  There  were  also  subtle  intellectual  tendencies  which  threatened 
the  ethical  standard  and  endangered  the  spiritual  life  of  the  brethren. 
That  world  had  its  intellectual  cliques  with  initiation  into  mysteries 
and  esoteric  doctrines,  and  many  wished  to  make  the  gospel  another 
"mystery,"  the  more  abstruse  doctrines  being  of  such  a  nature  that  the 
common  man  would  take  no  interest  in  them.  In  the  second  century 
these  intellectual  aristocrats  separated  themselves  outwardly  from  the 
Christian  Church  and  formed  the  schools  of  the  "Gnostics,"  some  of 
them  pure  in  their  morals,  others  ascetic,  others  gravely  licentious,  but 
all  claiming  a  superior  knowledge  of  the  truth.  That  these  schools  de- 
sired to  be  called  Christian  is  a  high  tribute  to  the  impression  that  the 
gospel  had  made  upon  the  world.  Fundamentally  these  systems  were 
corrupt.  They  left  no  room  for  ethical  endeavor,  for  redemption  from 
sin,  or  the  Christian  conception  of  God.  They  were  not  truly  Christian. 
If  Gnosticism  had  fastened  itself  on  Christianity  it  would  have  destroyed 
it.  It  was  a  parasite  and  had  to  be  torn  off.  For  its  beginnings  see 
Eph.  4:14;  Col.  2:8,  18 ;  I  John  2 :  18,  19,  22 ;  4 : 2,  3  ;  5  : 6. 


64 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in   Pubhc   Life 


Sixth  Day  :     The  Failure  of  the  Philosopher  to  Appre- 
ciate Christianity 


1.  It  must  ever  remain  a  sorry  comment  on  philosophy  that  during 
the  first  two  centuries  its  best  representatives  were  at  such  small  pains 
to  learn  what  this  new  religion  meant,  and  treated  with  contempt  or 
worse  a  body  of  people  in  whose  moral  endeavors  they  should  have  dis- 
cerned some  affinity  with  their  own  ideals.  Epictetus,  Pliny,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  Lucian,  even  the  physician  Galen,  most  sympathetic  of  all,  can- 
not understand  Christianity.  If  it  is  not  entirely  fanaticism,  what  is  it? 
They  cannot  deny  that  there  is  an  irreducible  surd  somewhere  at  its 
heart.  Pliny  and  Galen  testify  to  the  high  moral  quality  of  the  lives  of 
the  brethren,  their  self-sacrifice,  their  purity,  their  honor  and  their 
bravery  in  the  face  of  death.  But  in  spite  of  this  without  temple,  ritual 
or  national  God,  Christianity  is  for  them  an  unreasonable  atheism.  They 
never  came  close  enough  to  understand  this  "third  class,"  this  imperium 
in  imperio,  which  on  their  own  confession  was  draining  away  the  life 
from  their  heathen  temples.  (See  Heinrici, "Das  Urchristenthum.")  The 
reason  of  their  failure  was  that  those  philosophers  did  not  value  the  facts 
and  ideals  which  were  primary  in  Christianity.  Almost  every  man  of 
them  accommodated  himself  more  or  less  in  practice  to  the  morals  and 
superstitions  of  the  time,  since  they  were  in  his  view  part  of  the  neces- 
sary environment  of  the  life  of  the  common  people.  He  knew  their 
worth  and  was  not  led  astray,  but  either  his  knowledge  was  too  specula- 
tive, or  it  seemed  to  him  to  have  in  it  too  little  power  to  reform  popular 
manners.  He  acquiesced  in  the  conduct  of  the  world  and  spun  fancies 
of  better  things. 

2.  Unfortunately  there  has  been  at  times  since  then  only  too  good 
reason  for  bringing  a  similar  complaint  against  the  intellectual  world. 
The  educated  man  often  tends  to  look  upon  life  as  a  curious  object  for 
investigation.  He  does  not  always  collect  more  facts  than  are  necessary 
to  frame  an  hypothesis.  But  does  he  always  put  the  proper  value  on  the 
facts  of  life?  Does  he  give  sufficient  credit  to  the  immense  latent 
power  on  the  religious  and  moral  side  of  human  nature?  So  we  ask  the 
college  rnan.  What  is  the  worth  of  your  ideals?  Do  they  get  down  to 
and  inspire  the  work-a-day  world  of  common  men? 


65 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  9:    The  Christian  in  PubHc  Life 


Seventh  Day  :     Review  and  Problem 

I.  We  may  review  the  situation  and  state  our  problem.  Christianity 
enters  the  world  at  a  time  when  there  was  a  revival  of  religious  in- 
terest, but  little  to  satisfy  that  interest,  a  world  that  was  morally  de- 
praved to  an  unprecedented  degree,  and  yet  a  world  in  which  many  noble 
ideals  of  humanity  lay  unproductive  in  many  minds.  Impotent  pathos 
stood  over  against  ascetism.  Suddenly  the  gospel  is  preached,  and  its 
followers  are  not  unreasonably  identified  by  the  Gentile  world  with 
Judaism.  But  Judaism  did  not  supply  the  new  energy,  for  it  had  been 
ineflfective  itself  in  moulding  the  morals  of  that  world  to  higher  ends. 
Christianity  is  recruited  from  the  intelligent  middle  classes,  with  a 
large  number  of  slaves  and  outcasts,  and  a  sprinkling  from  the  highest 
ranks.  But  it  offers  no  better  terms  to  the  rich  than  to  the  poor,  to  the 
intellectual  than  to  the  unlettered.  Its  ethical  demand  is  from  the  begin- 
ning utterly  stringent.  To  face  a  world  given  over  to  lust  with  an 
inviolable  law  of  purity  is  even  to-day  regarded  by  some  as  visionary; 
to  fight  the  luxury  of  that  world  and  its  mammonism  with  such  a  finely 
tempered  weapon  as  the  gentle  Christian  spirit  might  have  seemed  to 
court  defeat  from  a  coarse  and  ostentatious  age ;  to  dare  to  resist  point 
blank  the  passion  for  lustful  amusement  and  bloody  games  was  in  the 
view  of  common  sense  the  height  of  folly ;  to  cut  right  across  the  social 
strata  and  establish  a  brotherhood  upon  moral  and  spiritual  affinities 
without  casting  everyday  relationships  into  confusion,  and  to  exalt  la- 
bor to  a  place  of  dignity,  was  to  show  wonderful  powers  of  organization. 
And  the  total  result  was  a  stupendous  moral  creation.  Even  had  the  ef- 
fort been  short-lived,  what  finer  flowering  of  virtue  has  there  ever  been? 
But  the  dynamic  did  not  spend  its  force  with  the  passing  of  the  first 
generation.  The  second  century  was  no  more  afraid  of  spiritual  venture 
than  the  first,  and  the  Christian  ideal  spread  over  the  world.  Whence 
came  this  new  standard  of  conduct  and  its  results  in  moral  heroism? 
Why  were  Judaism  with  its  prestige  of  religion  and  its  imperial  privi- 
leges. Stoicism  intellectually  and  socially  well  advantaged,  and  all  other 
ritual  and  religious  systems,  so  ineffective  in  grappling  with  their  pres- 
ent distress?  The  Christians  had  learned  what  life  is — its  worth,  its 
sin,  its  possibility  of  renewal.  Whence  came  that  knowledge?  They 
said  that  these  things  had  come  home  to  them  when  the  good  news  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ  had  been  preached  to  them  (Rom.  1:14-17). 


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Study   lo:    Great  Personalities 


First  Day:     Impressive  Characters  Appear  in  this 
Brotherhood  During  a  Sterile  Age 


1.  Any  religion  or  society  is  to  be  judged  by  the  greatness  of  the 
men  whom  it  produces.  Until  these  arise  to  gather  up  in  themselves  the 
ideas  that  are  in  the  air,  to  give  emphasis  to  the  winged  words  charged 
with  the  live  issues  that  flit  from  lip  to  lip,  and  to  embody  the  answer 
to  the  longings  and  hopes  of  the  multitude,  the  movement  does  not  get 
shape.  They  understand  the  force  of  its  conceptions.  In  their  words, 
gesture,  energy,  and  character  the  idea  has  its  clothing.  Its  power  is  to 
be  measured  by  the  conviction  which  those  into  whose  life  it  is  in- 
wrought can  inspire  in  others  as  to  its  worth. 

2.  Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  the  living  power  of  Chris- 
tianity than  that  it  has  thrown  up  time  and  again  all  down  its  history, 
out  of  the  depths  of  the  society,  some  man  of  immense  spiritual  force, 
who,  owing  little  or  nothing  to  adventitious  conditions  such  as  birth 
or  breeding,  dominates  the  world  with  spiritual  ideals,  and  renews  its  re- 
ligious convictions.  Christianity  like  a  belt  of  light  across  the  heavens 
has  been  studded  with  bright  stars  in  every  age,  though  there  are 
peculiarly  brilliant  clusters  at  different  periods,  as  in  the  early  cen- 
turies, the  reformation  epoch,  and  the  century  that  has  just  closed.  But 
it  was  from  the  brightest  of  these  clusters  that  the  Church  started  on 
her  way  across  our  era.  No  age  affords  so  many  examples  of  high 
character  and  noble  endeavor  as  the  apostolic  period. 

3.  They  are  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  historical  and  moral  con- 
ditions of  the  time,  for  if. we  except  John  the  Baptist,  Judaism  had 
produced  no  prophet  for  centuries,  and  the  revival  of  religious  ideals 
in  the  apostles  was  beyond  anything  even  in  the  most  classic  days  of 
prophecy.  And  Hebrew  prophecy  itself  has  to  be  explained.  "In  all  the 
religious  history  of  mankind  there  is  nothing  that  can  be  compared  to 
the  prophetic  order  in  Israel"  (A.  B.  Davidson).  Nor  was  contem- 
porary paganism  more  productive  of  great  characters.  Out  of  a  period 
stretching  over  a  century  and  a  half  we  can  select  a  Plutarch,  a  Seneca, 
an  Epictetus,  or  a  Marcus  Aurelius ;  these  are  the  best  examples  of  an 
age  smitten  with  moral  decrepitude.  Paganism  had  not  the  vital  force 
to  beget  spiritual  offspring. 


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The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  lo:    Great  Personalities 


Second  Day:    Jesus  Elicits  Unshaken  Loyalty  in  Men 
OF  Heroic  Mould 

1.  In  the  men  of  the  apostolic  period  there  is,  as  we  shall  see,  a  wide 
range  of  character,  but  a  common  feature  is  their  overwhelming  energy. 
They  threw  themselves  into  their  mission  with  unflinching  courage.  It 
is  difficult  for  us  to  estimate  correctly  the  moral  heroism  of  the  first  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus.  They  may  not  have  had  great  worldly  prospects,  but  they 
abandoned  all  they  had  (Matt.  I9:27ff.).  Doubtless  they  expected  some 
return  (Mark  10:35-37),  even  in  the  present,  though  the  fact  that  they 
clung  to  their  Master  as  they  saw  that  they  were  to  be  disappointed 
should  relieve  them  of  a  suspicion  of  having  followed  Him  from  un- 
worthy motives.  Consider  the  demands  of  discipleship  (Luke  14:26). 
It  was  sufficiently  exacting  during  the  year  of  popularity  in  Galilee,  but 
after  they  learned  of  His  coming  death  their  hopes  must  have  suffered 
collapse.  There  is  something  pitiful  if  it  were  not  heroic  in  the  scene  in 
Gethsemane  (Luke  22:49-51).  Here  is  a  handful  of  men  who  have 
thrown  over  their  patriotism  and  their  religious  traditions  for  the  sake 
of  One  who  they  had  hoped  would  be  the  Messiah,  and  He  is  to  die 
and  leave  them  to  the  hatred  of  their  own  people.  Even  at  this  moment 
they  obey  Jesus  though  they  still  see  a  chance  of  cutting  their  way 
through  their  enemies  and  escaping  among  the  olive  trees.  They  must 
have  been  men  of  wonderful  spiritual  penetration,  and  Christ  must  have 
inspired  them  with  supreme  love,  when  their  loyalty  was  tenacious 
amidst  this  wreck  of  their  lives. 

2.  But  this  devotion  to  Jesus  is  no  less  constant  through  the  re- 
verses and  disappointments  of  the  following  decades.  And  these  men 
were  no  ordinary  characters;  they  have  become  the  spiritual  guides  of 
the  world.  Yet  they  glory  in  calling  themselves  slaves  of  Jesus  Christ. 
They  were  so  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  the  unseen  kingdom  which  He 
preached  that  they  flung  themselves  upon  danger.  A  throbbing  love  to 
Christ  drives  them  through  every  wave  of  opposition.  There  is  ho 
saving  of  their  own  lives,  no  selfishness,  no  grudging  labor,  no  careful 
balancing  of  accounts,  no  weariness  of  the  toil,  no  claim  of  merit,  noth- 
ing of  hireling  service.  Those  first  missionaries  of  the  gospel  are 
almost  prodigal  of  all  they  have,  for  the  best  they  can  give  is  too  little 
for  their  Master  (2  Cor.  5:14).  The  nobler  the  character  and  the  more 
varied  the  endowments  of  these  men,  the  more  glorious  must  have  been 
the  Figure  who  constrained  their  loyalty. 


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The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   lo:     Great  Personalities 


Third  Day  :     Stephen  and  Barnabas 


1.  We  shall  consider  some  of  the  leading  characters  of  the  New 
Testament.  Stephen,  the  first  martyr,  was  unquestionably  one  of  the 
most  powerful  factors  in  the  development  of  primitive  Christianity,  for, 
though  his  influence  on  Paul  has  sometimes  been  overestimated,  he  was 
the  first  to  see  that  if  the  message  of  the  gospel  should  be  confined 
v.'ithin  old  Jewish  customs,  the  new  wine  would  burst  the  old  bottles. 
His  greatness  is  displayed  both  by  his  insight  (Acts  7)  and  his  readi- 
ness for  heroic  measures  (Acts  6:8,  11,  13,  14).  Jew  as  he  was,  he  rose 
above  the  limitations  of  his  race,  and  reading  as  no  one  yet  had  done  the 
purpose  of  God's  revelation  to  the  world,  he  tells  his  hearers  that  the 
work  of  the  Jewish  nation  as  such  is  done  (7:51-53)-  They  must  give, 
way  to  the  new  Israel.  The  earthly  temple,  its  ritual,  and  the  legal  cus- 
toms are  to  be  displaced  by  a  wider  Temple  of  God  in  the  hearts  of 
men.  Stephen  was  the  most  winsome  man  of  the  brotherhood  (Acts  6: 
3,  8).  Conspicuous  for  wisdom  and  for  faith,  he  could  adjust  delicate 
issues.  Prudent  and  devout,  his  courage  flowed  like  a  steady  stream, 
never  breaking  over  shallows.  His  days  were  few  upon  the  earth,  but 
his  character  was  one  of  the  choicest  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  for  none  per- 
haps had  so  much  of  the  mind  of  Jesus  (Acts  7:60). 

2.  Barnabas  was  also  a  glory  to  that  early  group.  Though  he  be- 
longed to  a  priestly  family  (Acts  4:36)  he  triumphed  over  his  class 
prejudices,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  associate  himself  with  the  mission 
to  the  Gentiles.  A  man  of  substance  he  was  an  example  of  liberality, 
and  did  not  scorn  to  work  with  his  own  hands  for  a  living  (i  Cor.  9: 
6).  Unlike  Paul  he  seems  never  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  party  man, 
but  retained  the  confidence  of  the  older  wing  of  the  Church  (Acts  9:27; 
Gal.  2:  iff.).  Not  less  creditable  to  his  character  was  his  willingness  to 
be  subordinate  to  Paul,  though  he  had  been  an  older  disciple,  and  had 
done  much  to  pave  the  way  for  the  former  persecutor  on  his  entrance 
into  the  Church.  He  had  his  failings  it  is  true  (Acts  15:37-39).  but 
Paul  pays  him  a  high  tribute  in  the  words,  "even  Barnabas"  (Gal. 
2:13). 


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Study   lo:    Great  Personalities 


Fourth  Day  :    James  and  Peter 

1.  James  was  the  head  of  the  conservative  element  in  the  Church, 
and  seems  to  have  clung  more  to  his  Jewish  upbringing  than  any  of 
the  early  leaders.  Living  in  Jerusalem  he  was  a  stranger  to  the  world 
outside  Jewry  of  the  Palestinian  order.  He  was  afraid  of  the  Gentiles 
and  of  their  contaminating  customs  (Acts  15  :  I3ff. ;  Gal.  2  :  12),  and  was 
suspicious  of  progress.  He  seems  to  have  been  slow  to  grasp  the  full 
reach  of  a  principle,  or  even  to  read  character  (Mark  3:31;  John  7:5), 
but  he  was  devotedly  loyal  to  the  past  in  which  God  had  been  gracious 
unto  him,  and  was  reluctant  to  move  beyond  it.  He  nevertheless  al- 
lowed the  facts  of  God's  grace  to  lead  him.  Steadfastly  anchored  to  his 
old  religious  life  he  was  yet  more  true  to  God  and  to  Jesus  as  Messiah, 
and  under  the  recital  of  the  facts  of  Paul's  missionary  success  among 
the  Gentiles,  he  swung  round  to  a  position  from  which  he  could  reach 
out  to  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  and  wish  them  Godspeed  on 
their  journey.  It  was  a  power  outside  Judaism  which  led  James  to  do 
this  (Gal.  2:9ff.). 

2.  In  Peter  we  first  meet  the  leader  of  primitive  Christianity.  He 
was  a  man  of  action,  masterful  and  impulsive,  and  became  a  repre- 
sentative not  only  among  the  Jewish  Christians,  but  also  in  the  Gentile 
churches  (i  Peter  1:1).  Sensitive  to  his  surroundings  he  seems  often 
to  have  taken  steps  before  he  realized  the  practical  consequences  of  his  de- 
cision, and  he  hesitated  to  carry  them  at  once  to  their  logical  conclusions, 
as  Paul  with  his  ruthless  logical  consistency  would  do  (Gal.  2:11-16). 
He  had  a  buoyant  and  generous  nature,  fearless,  dictatorial,  hot  withal 
against  impurity  (r  Peter  4  and  5),  and  devoted  to  his  Master  in  spite 
of  lapses  (Mark  14:29).  He  was  the  first  to  make  open  confession  of 
Jesus  as  Messiah,  and  his  gospel  which  underlies  Mark  gave  the  type  to 
the  preaching  of  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  (Mark  8:29).  Neither 
profound  nor  imaginative,  Peter  became  a  man  of  rock-like  nature. 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  impression  of  him  that  remained  in  the 
Church  (Matt  16:18;  Luke  22:32),  no  less  than  that  he  owed  his 
strength  to  Jesus  Christ   (Acts  3:12). 


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Study   lo:    Great  Personalities 


Fifth  Day  :    John  :  Built  on  the  Foundation  of  Apostles 
AND  Prophets 

1.  John  does  not  occupy  a  large  place  in  the  recorded  history  of  the 
early  Church  if  we  omit  the  Johannine  writings,  which  for  our  purpose 
we  may  not  assume  to  be  his.  But  he  was  one  of  the  most  intimate 
circle  of  Jesus,  and  along  with  Peter  comes  to  the  front  after  Pentecost 
(Acts  3:iff. ;  4:13,  19;  8:14).  Whatever  verdict  is  passed  upon  the 
authorship  of  the  fourth  gospel,  we  may  infer  that  John  the  apostle 
presented  in  his  preaching  a  different  side  of  the  character  of  Jesus  from 
Peter's  view.  He  was  probably  a  mystic,  intense  in  his  loves  and  hates. 
His  nature  was  deep,  and  we  may  suppose  that  he  was  more  responsive 
than  any  other  disciple  to  the  profoundest  truths  in  the  mind  of  his 
Master. 

2.  None  of  these  men  would  have  attained  immortal  fame  apart  from 
the  gospel  which  they  served.  It  was  their  privilege  and  their  response 
to  their  opportunity  that  made  them  what  they  became.  The  apostle  was 
a  man  who  made  no  claims  for  himself;  he  was  simply  a  transmitter  of 
the  word  of  Jesus  to  the  world  (Mark  3 :  14,  15  ;  i  Cor.  3:5-11).  Would 
these  men  have  seized  upon  their  own  countrymen's  imagination  for 
their  saintliness?  Are  there  not  to-day  multitudes  whose  character  is 
the  equal  of  theirs?  James  was  narrow,  Peter  dangerously  impulsive, 
neither  of  them  possessing  the  finely  balanced  mind  which  the  Greek 
moralists  taught  to  be  the  sign  of  the  perfect  man.  With  the  exception 
of  Stephen  all  seem  to  have  lost  at  some  time  their  moral  footing. 
They  impressed  the  world  because  of  the  message  they  brought.  A 
marvelous  Person  behind  them  is  the  only  explanation  of  their  influence 
(Acts  4:13).  The  steel  of  their  character  had  been  tempered  to  the 
finest  issues  in  His  presence.    They  had  bathed  their  swords  in  heaven. 

3.  The  apostolic  age,  however,  presents  not  only  a  few  super-eminent 
peaks  arising  out  of  the  depths,  but  a  whole  plateau  of  elevated  character 
and  endowment.  Prophecy,  which  had  been  so  long  dormant,  awoke 
again  to  life  (Matt.  10:41;  Acts  11:27;  15:32;  i  Cor.  12:28;  I4:29ff. ; 
Eph.  2 :  20 ;  4:11:  Rev.  10 : 7 ;  22 : 6,  9) .  There  were  many  men  richly  en- 
dowed with  the  Spirit  of  God,  not  an  official  class,  who  proclaimed  to  the 
Church  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  They  spoke  in  the  name  of  Jesus  and 
claimed  a  divine  revelation.  Had  they  really  a  v^ovA  from  the  living 
God?  If  not  how  are  they  to  be  accounted  for?  To  deny  that  they  had 
is  simply  to  deny  a  fundamental  assumption  of  the  New  Testament. 


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Study   lo:    Great  Personalities 


Sixth  Day:    Paul;  His  Training,  Work  and  Character 


1.  Paul  stands  by  himself.  Not  only  had  he  transcendent  genius, 
and  the  best  educational  advantages,  but  he  had  a  vision  of  the  risen 
Jesus  which  put  his  apostleship  in  a  different  order  from  that  of  those 
who  had  been  with  Jesus  on  earth.  His  training  at  Tarsus  gave  him 
insight  into  the  Greek  mind;  he  was  a  favorite  pupil  of  the  Pharisees 
(Gal.  1:13,  14;  Acts  9:1-9),  and  his  Roman  citizenship  made  him  an 
imperialist  in  thought  (Rom.  1:14-16).  He  was  thus  fitted  more  than 
any  other  individual  to  put  his  stamp  upon  Christianity.  He  has  the 
breadth  of  the  educated  man,  and  the  outlook  of  a  man  of  the  world. 

2.  His  commanding  personality  is  shown  by  his  work,  his  claim 
being  that  his  churches  are  his  certificate  when  he  is  traduced  (2  Cor.  3: 
2,  3),  for  no  man  was  ever  more  persistently  slandered  (Gal.  1:10;  6: 
10-17;  2  Cor.  10:11,  12).  His  authority  was  acknowledged  by  the 
churches  in  the  most  important  cities  of  the  empire,  with  which  he 
maintained  an  extensive  correspondence.  These  letters,  often  written 
almost  as  fugitive  instructions,  are  in  the  matter  of  intellectual  power 
among  the  world's  great  literature,  and  his  skill  in  dialectic  and  clear 
exposition,  as  seen,  e.  g.,  in  Romans,  is  of  the  highest  order. 

3.  But  he  was  no  less  distinguished  for  his  sanity  in  commonplace 
affairs.  Where  is  there  a  better  poised  judgment  than  that  which  de- 
livered the  advice  contained  in  the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians?  His 
principles  are  of  the  highest,  but  he  knows  character  and  can  make  al- 
lowance for  weakness  and  difference  in  circumstances  (i  Cor.  7:8). 
He  puts  his  finger  with  candor  and  remarkable  precision  on  the  spot 
where  the  ailment  is  rooted,  and  as  successfully  chooses  the  remedy 
(i  Cor.  11:17-34;  12:30,  31).  He  is  a  calm,  shrewd  man  guided  by  a 
rigid  standard  of  righteousness  (Rom.  3:5-8;  6:12-18).  Indeed  he  has 
been  the  teacher  of  the  most  virile  portion  of  the  Christian  Church.  Is 
not  this  because  he  is  the  apostle  of  freedom,  and  of  faith  in  Christ  and 
His  truth?  The  creator  under  God  of  Gentile  Christianity,  one  who 
produced  a  moral  reformation,  the  effects  of  which  reach  even  to  the 
present,  a  man  in  whom  vast  intellectual  power  and  sane  judgment 
were  so  eminently  combined  is  surely  able  to  give  satisfactory  testimony 
as  to  the  controlling  forces  of  his  life  and  their  source.  What  is  his 
account  of  his  life?     (Gal.  i:ii — 2:21.) 


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Study   lo:    Great  Personalities 


Seventh  Day  :     Paul  a  Miracle  of  Divine  Grace 

1.  Fortunately  we  have  in  an  unquestioned  epistle  a  bit  of  autobiog- 
raphy by  Paul  on  the  crisis  of  his  life  (Gal.  1:13-17).  This  passage 
along  with  i  Cor.  15:8;  Rom.  1:4  makes  plain  to  us  that  Jesus  the 
risen  Messiah  appeared  to  him  while  he  was  in  the  full  course  of  his 
career  of  persecution,  convinced  him  that  hitherto  his  eyes  had  been 
blinded  to  the  truth,  and  revealed  Himself  in  him  as  the  Son  of  God. 
This  event  explains  all  his  subsequent  life.  Every  action  and  thought 
springs  from  his  conviction  of  the  grace  of  God  towards  him,  unworthy 
to  be  an  apostle  (i  Cor.  15:9,  10;  Eph.  3:8). 

2.  This  express  testimony  cannot  be  invalidated  by  a  theory  that  the 
apostle  suffered  from  hallucination  (2  Cor.  12:1-12),  for  he  always  dis- 
tinguishes between  these  and  his  first  sight  of  Jesus.  This  latter  event 
was  the  one  breach  in  his  career,  up  towards  which  there  were  no  ap- 
proaches from  misgiving  lest  he  might  be  fighting  against  God.  His 
letters  show  no  threads  running  through  his  earlier  experience  in 
Judaism  which  were  lying  ready  to  be  combined  by  a  vision  into  the 
new  Christian  experience.  But  were  even  his  visions  (2  Cor.  12)  noth- 
ing but  subjective  trances?  If  so  it  means  that  his  belief  that  he  re- 
ceived truth  from  another  world  was  due  to  the  physical  reaction  from 
an  overwrought  emotion.  But  before  coming  to  this  conclusion  we  must 
remember  the  immense  moral  forces  which  he  brought  into  play  and 
controlled.  Is  spiritual  intoxication  sufficient  to  account  for  these  un- 
surpassed results  in  life?  If  so  our  best  things  are  based  on  hallucina- 
tion. 

3.  Further  Paul  is  not  a  fanatic  swayed  by  a  theory.  He  does  not 
write  about  systems  and  doctrines  in  the  abstract,  but  about  a  living 
Person.  Jesus  Christ  entered  into  his  life  on  a  certain  day  (Gal.  1:16), 
and  henceforth  the  apostle  was  possessed  by  an  overmastering  passion 
for  his  Lord.  Men  do  not  make  mistakes  about  these  ethical  crises  that 
are  traced  to  the  appearance  of  a  person  who  became  a  steadfast  friend, 
and  by  whose  influence  they  have  been  saved  from  ruin.  A  lover  does 
not  err  as  to  whether  he  knows  his  beloved.  And  Paul  loved  Jesus  with 
absorbing  passion  (Gal.  2:20;  Rom.  8:35;  2  Cor.  5:14). 

4.  Paul  cannot  be  explained  by  his  education  and  environment.  He 
impressed  the  world  in  spite  of  his  Judaism.  Indeed  he  is  often  said  to 
be  discredited  to-day  because  we  are  supposed  to  have  outgrown  his 
Jewish  doctrines.  But  it  is  precisely  in  that  which  is  non-Jewish  in  him 
that  his  power  resides.  His  enthusiastic  witness  to  the  fact  that  Jesus 
is  the  crucified  and  living  Christ — the  very  antithesis  of  his  Jewish 
conceptions — has  persuaded  the  world,  for  from  this  preaching  flowed  a 
moral  renewal.  Paul  repudiates  glory  for  himself.  His  churches  and 
their  character  are  the  fruit  of  the  Christ  who  lives  in  him  (i  Cor.  i: 
23-25;  2  Cor.  2:14-17;  4:5,  7-18). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   ii:    The  Christian  Literature — The  New 
Testament 


First  Day:     Contemporary  Jewish  Writings  Lack 
Creative  Power 

1.  Great  literature  is  always  the  outcome  of  the  powerful  emotions, 
convictions,  and  enthusiasms  of  life.  A  sceptical  age  cannot  produce 
books  to  charm  the  world,  for  men  are  on  the  whole  healthy-minded 
and  trust  rather  than  disbelieve.  Now  the  New  Testament  belongs  pre- 
eminently to  an  age  of  faith.  It  is  pervaded  by  one  and  the  same  spirit, 
and  is  in  all  its  varied  character  and  literary  forms  expressive  of  a 
unique  and  strong  life.  The  New  Testament  is  one  book  because  it 
deals  with  phases  of  the  selfsame  life. 

2.  As  far  as  literature  is  concerned  the  epoch  was  barren.  There 
had  been  no  great  ideas  stirring  to  kindle  the  imagination,  and  the  New 
Testament  stands  by  itself  in  the  century  which  it  covers.  To  take  the 
writings  which  in  form  most  nearly  approach  the  New  Testament — 
the  contemporary  literature  of  the  Jews.  This  is  somewhat  voluminous. 
Leaving  out  of  account  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha,  the  best  writ- 
ings belong  to  the  class  entitled  "pseudepigraphic,"  consisting  for  the 
most  part  of  apocalypses  bearing  the  names  of  Old  Testament  worthies 
— the  Book  of  Enoch,  the  Ascension  of  Isaiah,  the  Assumption  of  Moses, 
the  Apocalypse  of  Baruch.  They  are  composed  of  visions  and  medleys  of 
fancy  wrought  into  shape  as  protests  against  the  existing  order  of 
things,  reflections  of  national  ideals  cast  upon  the  clouds  of  a  stormy 
present.  It  is  a  topsy-turvy  world  in  which  the  sanity  of  true  literature 
is  sacrificed  to  the  dreams  of  the  enthusiast.  The  average  Jewish 
apocalypse  is  ineffective.  In  contrast  to  these  our  canonical  apocalypse, 
though  often  incongruous  and  full  of  unintelligible  imager\%  is  instinct 
with  and  capable  of  producing  a  mighty  faith.  A  passion,  a  volume  of 
belief,  a  wave  of  confidence  surges  through  the  book,  bearing  forward 
its  strange  figures,  imagery  and  visions  to  a  crest,  but  leaving  them 
behind  as  it  rolls  on  and  breaks  with  magnificence  on  the  shores  of  the 
eternal  world  (Rev.  21  and  22). 

3.  The  Psalms  of  the  Pharisees  or  Solomon  (50  B.  C  ?)  are  the 
finest  of  contemporary  Jewish  literature,  suggestive  in  many  ways  of  the 
hymns  of  Mary  and  Zacharias  (Luke  i:  47-55-  67-79),  though  they  lack 
their  buoyant  and  prophetic  spirit.  But  of  all  Jewish  writings  of  that 
time  it  may  be  said  that  they  are  devoid  of  creative  or  prophetic  genius. 
They  smell  of  the  lamp,  or  have  the  tone  of  the  ecclesiastic  or  disap- 
pointed nationalist.  Hardly  any  would  be  read  with  interest  were  it  not 
for  the  light  they  throw  on  the  world  from  which  the  New  Testament 
sprang. 

74 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   ii:    The  New  Testament 


Second  Day:     Thrown  into  Relief  by  Succeeding 
Writings 

1.  A  comparison  of  the  New  Testament  with  contemporary  or  suc- 
ceeding Christian  writings  heightens  the  impression  of  its  uniqueness. 
These  are  easily  recognized  to  be  derivative,  indeed  the  best  of  them  are 
frankly  so.  Any  reader  of  the  apocryphal  gospels,  acts,  or  epistles  finds 
himself  ushered  into  a  very  rarified  atmosphere,  which  could  hardly  sus- 
tain high-toned  religious  life.  In  them  are  thrown  together  things  of 
value  and  things  of  trivial  character  side  by  side.  They  suffer  from 
want  of  power  to  discriminate  between  what  is  congruous  and  what  is 
singularly  inappropriate  in  persons  whose  names  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment stand  for  something  of  altogether  different  grade.  They  have 
small  sense  of  spiritual  truth. 

2.  There  are  men  of  distinctly  larger  caliber  on  the  borderland  of 
the  apostolic  period,  where  a  few  of  the  great  figures  of  the  first  age 
still  linger  among  their  successors.  But  a  decline  is  manifest  even  here. 
Clement  lacks  the  prophetic  fire  of  James ;  Ignatius  is  fervid  and 
lovable,  but  his  intellectual  grip  is  feebler  and  his  spiritual  insight  less 
discerning  than  that  of  the  New  Testament  writers ;  and  the  Teaching 
of  the  Twelve  Apostles  reveals  the  process  of  the  purer  teaching  of  the 
perfect  law  of  liberty  changing  into  a  legalistic  standard.  The  best 
explanation  of  this  is  that  none  of  these  writers  came  into  direct  touch 
with  Jesus  Christ  and  the  creative  agencies  which  were  at  work  in  the 
circle  of  His  immediate  disciples.  The  personal  glow  is  lessening  be- 
cause the  Jesus  of  history  is  represented  now  by  but  few  of  those  who 
knew  Him. 

"  If  I  live  yet,  it  is  for  good,  more  love 
Through  me  to  men  :  be  nought  but  ashes  here 
That  keep  awhile  my  semblance,  who  was  John — 
Still,  when  they  scatter,  there  is  left  on  earth 
No  one  alive  who  knew  (consider  this.) 
— Saw  with  his  eyes  and  handled  with  his  hands 
That  which  was  from  the  first,  the  Word  of  Life. 
How  will  it  be  when  none  more  saith  '  I  saw'?  " 

—R.  Browning-.    A  Death  in  the  Desert. 

The  consciousness  of  the  New  Testament  revelation  is  expressed  in 
Gal.  i:i6;  i  Cor.  15:8,  9;  i  Thess.  4:15;  John  1:14;  i  John  1:1-4; 
Rev.  22 :  18,  19. 

3.  The  quality  of  the  Christian  Fathers  of  the  second,  third  and 
fourth  centuries  seems  to  be  purer  than  that  of  the  sub-apostolic  age, 
but  they  all  profess  to  be  merely  interpreters  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
not  even  secondary  sources  of  revelation.  The  canonical  Scriptures 
are  like  an  oasis  in  the  wilderness.  Suddenly  the  traveler  comes  upon 
them  after  having  wandered  through  tracts  of  barrenness,  and  in  the 
centuries  that  follow  the  green  spots  of  spiritual  genius  are  spread  along 
the  water  courses  which  have  issued  from  this  spring  of  life. 

75 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  ii:    The  New  Testament 


Third  Day:    The  Style  and  Language  of  the  New 

Testament 

1.  There  is  very  little  literary  grace  in  the  New  Testament.  Some 
of  the  writers,  notably  the  author  of  Hebrews,  were  men  of  culture, 
but  the  average  style  lacks  aesthetic  distinction,  such  as  belongs  to 
masters  of  the  silver  age  of  Greek  like  Polybius  or  Plutarch.  Paul,  it  is 
true,  was  a  man  of  the  highest  education,  but  he  gave  small  heed  to 
form.  In  his  eagerness  he  presses  forward  till  he  breaks  through  his 
language  and  his  thought  becomes  abrupt  (2  Cor.  12:1-9;  Gal.  1:6-9; 
2:3-10).  His  message  not  his  style,  except  in  so  far  as  the  style  is  the 
man,  gained  the  attention  of  his  readers,  though  the  cultured  Athenians 
found  his  enthusiasm  to  be  excessive,  and  put  him  aside  as  bad  form 
(Acts  17:32).  These  words  are  true  of  the  gospel  of  John — "We 
must  not  apply  aesthetic  standards  to  religious  literature,  but  from  the 
peculiar  charm  of  the  measured  wave-like  movement  of  the  sentences, 
which  give  an  impression  of  the  divine  character  of  Jesus,  so  clear  and 
deep,  so  simple  and  exalted,  so  still  and  so  powerful,  so  solemn  and  so 
smooth,  so  enigmatical  and  so  self-evident,  no  one  can  escape  who 
seeks  for  Christ  in  the  gospel"  (Heinrici). 

2.  This  drives  us  down  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  The  New  Testa- 
ment is  a  product  of  the  everyday  speech  of  the  people,  being  composed 
in  what  is  called  "the  common  dialect,"  and  that  as  spoken  by  the  com- 
mon folk  rather  than  as  written  by  the  cultured.  But  this  language, 
though  of  vulgar  origin,  moves  with  dignity,  its  spirit  is  high  born,  and 
it  carries  its  everyday  and  simple  garb  with  noble  bearing.  A  few 
words  were  coined,  but  the  real  change  is  in  the  spirit  with  which  the 
old  terms  were  invested,  words  once  ignoble  or  pedestrian,  e.  g.,  "cross," 
"minister,"  "church,"  "gospel,"  being  exalted  to  celestial  significance ; 
while,  as  we  have  seen,  several  of  the  Christian  virtues  had  to  be  pro- 
vided with  nomenclature.  "The  vitality  of  the  New  Testament  language 
resides  in  the  spirit  that  quickens  it.  It  is  as  pervasive  as  the  atmos- 
phere, but  as  intangible  as  a  perfume"  (J.  H.  Thayer). 

3.  This  phenomenon  is  worth  pondering.  The  instrument  for  the 
transmission  of  divine  truth  is  not  the  language  of  the  cultured,  nor 
of  the  subtle  philosopher;  it  is  just  average  speech,  commonplace  ex- 
pression, which  any  one  may  understand.  A  grammarian  rnay  be 
shocked  at  its  errors,  a  rhetorician  at  the  graceless  style,  but  like  the 
dull  carbon  when  aglow  with  electric  light,  this  New  Testament  speech 
illuminated  by  the  Divine  Spirit  has  shed  forth  truth  upon  the  world. 
(See  Deissmann's  "Bible  Studies";  J.  H.  Thayer's  article,  "Language 
of  New  Testament"  in  Hastings'  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible" ;  J.  H.  _Moul- 
ton's  articles  on  "Characteristics  of  New  Testament  Greek"  in  the 
"Expositor"  for  1904.) 

76 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  ii:    The  New  Testament 


Fourth  Day:    Jewish  Books  Become  the  Religious 
Classics  of  the  Gentiles 

1.  These  books  are  Jewish  in  spirit  and  form.  How  is  it  that  Jesus 
has  become  the  Teacher  of  mankind  though  He  couched  so  much  of  His 
discourse  in  provincial  Jewish  language?  How  is  it  that  sparks  of  truth 
shot  off  in  heated  controversy  with  the  Pharisees,  and  expressed  in 
terms  of  the  Jewish  theocratic  ideal,  are  the  vehicle  of  revelation  to  the 
world?  Because  that  comparatively  sequestered  nation  had  sent  forth 
a  stream  of  the  noblest  teachers  in  matters  that  pertain  to  God  and  the 
soul.  To  the  Jew  belonged  the  spiritual  intelligence  necessary  to  fathom 
the  gospel  and  to  interpret  it  to  the  world,  and  he  alone  had  a  suffi- 
ciently endowed  character  to  be  a  competent  messenger  concerning  the 
Kingdom  of  Jesus. 

2.  But  the  Jewish  people  of  that  age  had  been  saddled  with  the  Phari- 
sees, who  as  self-constituted  pedagogues  had  ridden  them  into  a  hard 
slavery.  Therefore  Jesus  had  first  to  unseat  these  pedagogues,  relieve 
the  Israelite  of  his  burden,  and  call  to  his  memory  the  well-nigh  for- 
gotten truths  of  the  prophets  on  which  Hebrew  character  had  been 
moulded.  This  is  the  reason  of  so  much  discussion  in  the  gospels. 
Only  thus  could  Jesus  bring  to  light  the  great  hidden  truths  of  the  past 
and  show  how  they  were  carried  to  completion  in  His  message. 

3.  On  turning  to  the  epistles  one  might  fancy  at  first  sight  that  they 
could  not  be  attractive  to  the  Gentiles.  Romans  might  be  thought  to  re- 
quire a  Jewish  constituency,  and  Hebrews  even  more  so.  Their  long 
and  subtle  arguments  derive  their  cogency  from  their  contrasts  with 
Jewish  theology,  practice,  or  ritual.  Their  authors  appeal  boldly  to  the 
Jewish  Scriptures  without  having  recourse  to  the  allegory  of  Philo  in 
order  to  adapt  them  to  the  cultured  Gentile  world.  Then  what  of  the 
imagery  of  the  Apocalypse?  And  yet  in  spite  of  their  difficulties  they 
have  become  the  standard  religious  literature  of  the  progressive  nations 
of  the  world ;  and  not  of  the  Western  world  alone,  for  the  immense  and 
growing  work  of  the  Bible  societies  proves  that  the  Scriptures  are  dis- 
placing other  sacred  books  where  they  enter  into  competition  with  them. 
How  is  this  to  be  explained  ? 


71 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   ii:    The  New  Testament 


Fifth  Day:     Jesus  Christ  the  Unity  of  the  New 
Testament 


1.  The  unity  of  the  New  Testament  is  explained  by  the  purpose 
which  traverses  it  from  beginning  to  end,  though  it  is  surprising  that 
that  purpose  should  have  been  so  consistently  maintained  in  a  literature 
which  grew  as  it  did.  In  the  case  of  the  gospels  it  is  obvious  that  they 
were  all  written  with  a  definite  purpose,  which  from  various  points  of 
view  is  the  same — to  set  forth  the  historical  facts  of  Christ's  life  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  show  that  no  other  foundation  can  any  man  lay  than 
that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus.  An  actual  life,  the  materials 
of  which  two  writers  claim  to  have  verified  (Luke  i  :i-4;  John  i :  14-18; 
19:35;  21:24),  forms  the  source  of  the  rest  of  the  New  Testament. 
These  gospels  were  written  not  as  literary  biography,  but  to  edify 
(Mark  1:1;  Matt.  1:21-23;  Luke  1:4;  John  20:31).  Each  writer  be- 
lieved that  Christ,  and  He  alone,  was  the  Gospel. 

2.  Many  of  the  epistles  on  the  other  hand  were  put  forth  to  meet  the 
current  necessities  of  the  Church  (i  Cor.;  2  Cor.;  Gal.,  see  especially  6: 
11-18;  and  3  John),  and  we  have  only  a  selection  from  a  large  corre- 
spondence. But  they  are  all  an  application  of  the  principles  of  Christ's 
life  to  the  everyday  needs  of  the  believer.  As  a  whole  the  Acts  and 
epistles  are  an  interpretation  of  the  Person  of  Christ  whom  His  followers 
were  learning  to  know  more  deeply  through  experience.  "It  was  by 
something  more  divine  than  a  sure  instinct  that  the  interpretation  of 
Christ's  Person  was  made  to  occupy  a  larger  space  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment than  even  the  words  of  Jesus.  It  is  the  faith  which  the  book  em- 
bodies more  than  the  facts  it  states  that  has  placed  upon  its  brow  the 
crown  of  its  illuminative  history"  (Fairbairn). 

3.  So  the  unity  of  the  New  Testament  consists  in  its  picture  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  writers  claim  that  they  can  describe  this  Person.  Some 
assert  that  they  had  lived  with  Him  on  earth,  or  had  had  a  vision  of  the 
risen  Christ,  and  that  they  knew  His  mind.  Though  His  Spirit  still 
lives  and  works  in  their  midst  it  must  be  defined  by  the  character  of 
the  historic  Jesus  (John  16:14;  2  Cor.  3:17).  The  purpose,  origin,  and 
unity  of  the  New  Testament  are  found  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  often  a  commonplace  setting  for  a  wonderful  character,  much  of 
it  having  been  written  to  give  advice  on  humble  duties,  or  to  counteract 
mistaken  notions  of  average  Christians,  but  this  casual  literature  has  be- 
come the  world's  standard  because  of  the  marvelous  Person  it  enshrines. 


78 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 1 :    The  New  Testament 


Sixth  Day:     The  New  Testament  Answers  Man's 
Hardest  Questions 


1.  But  the  question  still  remains,  Why  do  these  Jewish  books  which 
deal  with  the  life  and  Person  of  the  Messiah  appeal  to  the  heart  of  the 
world?  As  Coleridge  said,  the  Scriptures  "find"  us,  the  same  idea  that 
they  have  a  marvelous  self-revealing  power  being  expressed  in  Heb. 
4:12,  13;  I  John  5:9-12.  No  honest  soul  can  carefully  study  the  New 
Testament  without  being  morally  quickened,  spiritually  uplifted  and  in- 
spired with  a  new  sense  of  the  worth  of  life.  Through  it  all  there  is  an 
unmatched  elevation.  Much  of  this  breaks  forth  from  simplest  words 
which  need  no  explanation,  but  can  be  understood  by  the  unlearned, 
though  like  pure  and  clear  mountain  lakes  their  depth  is  unfathomable. 
On  the  other  hand  many  of  the  truths  of  the  New  Testament  are  so  lofty 
that  they  seem  like  distant  snow-clad  peaks  piercing  the  blue,  whose  re- 
flection lies  across  these  same  mountain  lakes,  but  they  are  inaccessible 
even  to  the  most  experienced  climbers. 

2.  We  do  not  take  long  to  discover  that  we  ourselves  are  the  greatest 
riddle  of  life.  What  am  I?  Whither  am  I  going?  To  these  the  most 
insistent  questions  of  our  nature  the  New  Testament  supplies  the  an- 
swer, We  are  made  in  the  image  of  God  and  can  find  no  rest  but  in  Him 
(Matt.  5:48;  11:28,  29;  John  14:1-6;  2  Cor.  3:18;  Heb.  4:9).  The 
fundamental  axiom  of  the  Bible  is  that  there  is  a  God.  Its  revelation 
consists  in  the  nature  of  the  God  of  whom  it  teaches.  Absolutely 
righteous,  self-consistent,  free  from  moods  or  envy.  He  is  the  all-wise, 
eternal  Sovereign,  loving  mercy  and  hating  iniquity,  forgiving  sin.  The 
Holy  Father  is  eager  to  receive  the  love  of  all  His  children. 

3.  As  compared  with  the  Old  Testament  the  New  Testament  teaches 
a  fuller  idea  of  the  Divine  Nature.  Holiness  is  no  longer  expressed  in 
ritual,  but  in  the  purest  ethical  terms,  some  of  the  qualities  with  which 
Jehovah  was  thought  to  be  endowed  by  writers  of  the  Old  Testament 
having  disappeared  in  the  fuller  light  of  the  New.  It  professes  to  ful- 
fill the  promise  of  the  new  covenant  (Jer.  3i:3ifif.).  God  is  no  longer 
the  God  of  the  Jews,  but  the  Father  of  mankind.  Salvation  is  for  the 
world  (John  4:21-24). 


79 


Tee  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   ii:    The   New  Testament 


Seventh  Day  :     The  Optimism  of  the  New  Testament 
Based  on  Jesus  Christ 


1.  Our  next  question  is,  What  is  man?  Nowhere  are  the  facts  of 
human  life  faced  with  such  sincerity  as  in  the  New  Testament.  Sin 
is  painted  as  it  really  is.  Man  is  dealt  with  as  he  is  found,  due  heed 
being  paid  to  the  testimony  of  conscience  and  the  lessons  of  remorse. 
The  light  of  Christ's  pure  life  streaming  from  the  cross  deepens  the 
sense  of  human  shame.  Where  is  the  hideousness  of  the  sin  in  which 
the  race  is  sunk  depicted  in  such  awful  and  yet  self-restrained  and  dis- 
cerning terms  as  in  the  New  Testament?  (Matt.  23;  John  3:17-21; 
Rom.  3:9-20;  Eph.  2:1-3;  Heb.  2:14,  15;  James  4:1-10;  i  Peter  4: 
17-19).  "The  human  race,"  as  Newman  says,  "is  implicated  in  some  ter- 
rible aboriginal  calamity,  and  is  out  of  joint  with  the  purposes  of  its 
Creator."    This  has  been  called  Christian  pessimism. 

2.  Along  with  this  there  is  an  unexampled  view  of  the  noble  inherent 
dignity  of  man,  and  at  the  same  time  strong  confidence  as  to  his  future 
destiny  (i  Cor.  15:20-28).  Other  literature  is  full  of  despondency  as  to 
human  nature,  but  according  to  the  New  Testament  the  race  gets  a  fresh 
start  in  Jesus  Christ  (Rom.  5:12-21;  Eph.  2:10;  i  John  4:9).  From 
Him  flows  a  stream  of  pure  life  for  the  cleansing  of  depraved  man  and 
restoring  him  to  the  righteous  Father.  To  these  fundamental  questions 
as  to  God,  man  and  salvation  there  are  no  discrepant  answers  in  the 
New  Testament.    The  book  is  one  in  its  spirit. 

3.  There  is  a  tendency  to-day  among  some  critics  to  ascribe  not  only 
Hebrews,  but  all  our  gospels  except  Mark,  and  many  of  the  chief  epis- 
tles to  unknown  authors,  or  to  schools  of  apostolic  foundation.  A  real 
appreciation  of  the  spiritual  magnitude  of  these  books  renders  this 
prima  facie  very  unlikely.  Was  the  turn  of  the  first  century  so  prolific 
in  spiritual  genius  that  the  authors  of  these  world  classics  should  have 
been  lost  in  the  crowd?  To  point  to  the  anonymity  of  Jewish  literature 
does  not  meet  the  difficulty,  for  none  of  it  is  of  first  rate  order. 
But  it  is  especially  insufficient  as  an  answer  because  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  lay  such  stress  on  testimony.  Their  gospel  was  bound 
up  with  the  truth  of  certain  facts  concerning  Jesus  Christ.  If  the  New 
Testament  is  derived  from  the  apostles  or  their  companions,  and  is  due 
to  the  more  or  less  direct  inspiration  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  they  knew 
and  loved,  there  is  at  least  an  adequate  solution  of  the  problem  on  its 
religious  side. 


80 


PART  II. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  EXPLANATION  OF  THE 
FOREGOING  PHENOMENA— THE  APOSTOLIC 
GOSPEL 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   12:    The  Gospel 


First  Day  :     The  Phenomena  and  Their  Wondrous 
Explanation 

1.  To  recapitulate,  we  have  been  brought  face  to  face  with  a  mar- 
velous ethical  creation,  a  new  type  of  character  and  life.  Within  the 
widely  scattered  and  variously  assorted  Christian  Brotherhood  there 
arose  an  ideal  transcending  in  its  worth  the  purest  dreams  of  prophets 
and  sages,  and  that  ideal  was  wrought  out  in  the  everyday  life  of  mul- 
titudes drawn  from  every  rank  in  society,  and  often  from  most  untoward 
circumstances.  Not  only  were  humble  lives  beautified,  but  they  were 
inspired  by  a  conviction  of  the  worth  of  the  unseen  which  reversed  for 
them  the  values  placed  by  the  ordinary  man  on  the  things  of  the  world. 
Their  richest  blessings  lay  in  the  beyond.  Moreover,  new  powers  were 
at  work  in  their  midst,  which  they  believed  to  come  as  spiritual  gifts 
from  their  exalted  Lord.  It  was  a  brotherhood  of  priests  and  prophets 
all  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  there  emerged  from  it  a 
number  of  men  of  supreme  endowments  whose  spiritual  eminence  gave 
them  leadership.  From  the  circle  of  the  brethren  there  has  also  come 
a  literature  which  is  the  classic  source  for  the  religious  and  moral  ideals 
of  the  Western  civilization. 

2.  How  are  we  to  account  for  this  phenomenon?  The  explanation 
of  the  New  Testament  itself  is  that  it  was  due  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  might  be  inferred  from  the  position  given  to  the  narra- 
tives of  the  life  of  Jesus  and  their  length,  at  the  opening  of  the  New 
Testament.  But  it  is  explicitly  stated  by  Paul  almost  as  a  ringing  chal- 
lenge (i  Cor.  1:18-25;  Gal.  3:1-5),  and  the  epistles  to  the  Hebrews 
(2:3,  4),  of  James  (i :  18),  Peter  (i  Peter  i : 23-25),  and  John  (i  John  i : 
7:4: 14)  bear  witness  to  the  same  effect.  All  agree  that  there  is  one  and 
only  one  source  of  moral  renewal,  that  no  other  gospel  can  compete  with 
their  message  (Gal.  i:6ff.). 

3.  That  gospel  had  a  vitality  which  radium-like  was  not  diminished 
by  the  moral  energy  it  created.  Doubtless  its  success  was  an  immense 
confirmatory  evidence  of  its  universal  truth  to  the  first  missionaries. 
But  in  itself  their  message  was  to  them  a  constant  wonder.  They  felt 
even  more  than  we  do  that  their  words  and  the  phenomena  of  their  circle 
were  a  startling  contrast  to  the  ordinary  happenings  of  life.  They 
realized  to  the  full  the  magnitude  of  the  change  that  had  come  over  the 
world,  and  they  were  prepared  to  accept  responsibility  for  the  stu- 
pendous explanation  they  gave  of  its  cause.  It  is  impossible  to  trace 
an  increasing  wonder  fed  by  fancy  across  a  chasm  of  years,  beginning 
in  the  earlier  books  and  growing  as  myths  grow,  till  a  simple  human  life 
is  cast  like  the  Brocken  mirage  in  giant  shape  upon  the  clouds  of  the 
imagination.  They  knew  that  they  were  living  in  the  midst  of  wonders 
transacted  in  a  commonplace  world.  In  its  full  daylight  they  gave  one 
and  the  same  self-consistent  account  of  these  marvels.  But  they  stood 
almost  aghast  at  the  audacity  of  their  explanation  (Rom.  1:16,  17;  11: 
33-36;  Heb.  1:1-4;  I  Peter  1:10-12;  i  John  3:1,  2). 

83 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   12:    The  Gospel 


Second  Day:     The  Living  Word  of  Truth 


1.  The  gospel  is  "the  Word  of  God,"  which  God  Himself  speaks. 
There  has  been  but  one  Word  from  the  beginning,  though  its  meaning 
has  only  fully  come  in  Jesus  Christ  (Heb.  i:i).  No  commoner  figure 
for  the  gospel  is  found  than  that  of  the  seed  (Matt.  13:3-23).  This 
seed  is  germinant  with  the  will  of  God  for  our  salvation  (James  1:18; 
I  Peter  1:23-25).  Carried  by  preachers  to  every  part  of  the  world  the 
seed  bears  fruit,  and  waxing  strong  enables  those  who  receive  it  to  over- 
come the  evil  (Col.  i  :6;  i  John  2: 14). 

2.  It  is  a  living  word.  As  such  it  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  writ- 
ten code  of  the  old  covenant,  which  like  all  mere  systems  of  precepts 
grew  antiquated  (2  Cor.  3:6;  Gal.  3:21).  Life  exists  only  by  adaptation 
to  environment,  or,  perhaps  we  should  say,  by  adapting  through  its  in- 
herent power  its  environment  to  its  own  uses,  transmuting  dead  material 
into  forms  of  organic  existence.  In  like  manner  the  gospel  is  not  a  dead 
written  letter,  but  is  an  eternal  truth  that  will  fit  itself  into  each  indi- 
vidual's conditions  and  into  the  circumstances  of  every  age  (John 
16:13). 

3.  As  the  word  of  God  the  gospel  is  "the  truth"  (i  Thess.  2:13; 
Eph.  1 :  13;  2  Tim.  2:15;  Heb.  10:26;  James  i :  18;  i  John  4:6).  This  is 
a  wide  term,  covering  all  life ;  it  is  an  ethical  or  spiritual  idea,  not 
primarily  intellectual.  The  gospel  is  what  God  has  to  say  on  life  in  its 
complete  range,  and  just  because  it  helps  men  to  attain  unto  the  "more 
life  and  fuller"  it  is  their  salvation.  It  is  the  truth  because  God  Himself 
who  speaks  it  is  the  Light  (i  John  1:5;  Eph.  5:8,  9,  13). 

4.  Therefore  the  gospel  is  authoritative.  Man's  word  may  be  a  mat- 
ter of  opinion,  shifting  as  the  wind  or  designed  by  craft  after  the  wiles 
of  error.  Not  so  God's  word  (Eph.  4:14).  Like  all  truth  it  searches 
the  conscience  and  will  not  allow  a  man  to  conceal  his  sins  from  the 
scrutiny  of  God  (Heb.  4:12,  13).  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  duty  to 
believe.  Words  of  the  truth  of  life  come  home  to  a  man  speaking  with 
the  tones  of  a  rightful  master  in  the  inmost  rooms  of  the  heart,  and 
they  send  the  evil  spirits  shuddering  out  into  the  dark.  Such  a  power 
the  gospel  has  always  exercised.  It  is  not  a  few  precepts  to  be  exhausted 
by  literal  obedience,  nor  mere  formulas  in  the  shape  of  a  creed  to  be 
assented  to  as  theoretically  correct. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   12:    The  Gospel 


Third  Day:    The  Unchanging  Gospel  Comes  from  Jesus 

Christ 

1.  The  gospel  of  the  living  God,  the  one  and  unchanging  truth,  is 
traced  back  to  the  life  of  Jesus  upon  earth  (i  Tim.  6:3).  In  one  of 
the  latest  writings  of  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  conviction  that  the 
gospel  as  preached  in  the  Christian  tradition  is  true  to  its  source 
(i  John  1:3;  2.:']')  ;  indeed  in  this  epistle  great  stress  is  laid  on  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  as  being  guaranteed  by  personal  testimony  (i  John  1:1-3; 
4: 14).  On  turning  to  one  of  the  earlier  and  indisputable  letters  we  dis- 
cover the  same  sense  of  continuous  tradition,  and  that,  too,  in  a  church 
over  which  the  apostle  had  no  authority,  and  to  whose  foundation  and 
upbuilding  he  had  so  far  contributed  nothing.  Paul's  words  in  Rom.  6: 
17  imply  that  the  gospel  to  which  his  readers  owe  their  salvation  is  the 
same  as  that  which  he  preaches.    Moreover,  it  is  truth  to  be  obeyed. 

2.  The  Book  of  Acts  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  common  be- 
lief of  the  Church  during  the  latter  half  of  the  first  century.  From 
Acts  2:42  we  gather  that  the  brethren  were  persuaded  that  one  and 
only  one  variety  of  doctrine  had  been  handed  down  from  the  apostles. 
Paul  mentions  in  Gal.  1:23  the  incredulity  of  the  churches  of  Judaea 
with  regard  to  himself.  Evidently  there  was  only  one  "faith,"  or  body 
of  truth  which  evoked  faith  among  the  brethren.  With  intense  indig- 
nation he  rejects  the  half  truths  of  his  opponents  as  being  destructive 
of  his  gospel  (Gal.  1:7;  2:7).  This  common  faith  centered  in  the  un- 
changing Jesus  Christ  (Heb.  13:7-9). 

3.  The  gospel  then  was  regarded  as  one  and  the  same.  It  had  been 
preached  before  Paul  was  converted,  in  Judaea  (i  Thess.  2:14),  Rome 
and  other  parts,  and  it  was  held,  they  believed,  in  its  ancient  purity  by 
the  Hebrew  Christians,  and  by  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor  to  which 
the  Johannine  epistles  were  written.  But  though  it  was  the  same  word 
of  God,  some  had  heard  it  directly  others  indirectly.  Many  claimed  that 
they  had  listened  to  Jesus  Himself  on  earth  (John  1:14;  i  Cor.  15:6). 
Paul  got  his  gospel  from  the  risen  Christ ;  most,  however,  from  those 
who  had  been  disciples  of  Jesus  (Heb.  2:3).  It  was  in  one  and  all  the 
Gospel  of  God  traced  back  to  its  first  Preacher,  Jesus  Himself  (Mark 
1:14;  John  18:37). 


85 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   12:    The  Gospel 


Fourth  Day  :    The  Gospel  the  Good  News  of  God's  Grace 


1.  In  its  literal  sense  the  word  "gospel"  means  "good  news."  As 
employed  in  the  New  Testament,  where  it  first  occurs  in  the  narratives 
of  Christ's  life,  it  implies  that  a  line  of  promises  lies  behind  it.  Jehovah 
had  spoken  good  tidings  through  His  prophets  of  a  glorious  coming 
kingdom,  and  of  a  new  covenant  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  would  be 
poured  forth  (Jer.  3i:3iff.).  All  these  things  are  fulfilled  in  Jesus 
Christ  (Matt.  26:28).  The  new  Israel  takes  the  place  of  the  old  (i  Peter 
2:4-10). 

2.  The  gospel  is  indeed  the  best  of  all  news,  for  it  tells  of  salvation 
to  a  world  of  sinful  men.  All  are  plunged  in  sin,  and  under  the  distress 
of  guilt.  God's  anger  is  manifested  everywhere  in  the  blunted  under- 
standing, the  evil  impulses  of  men,  and  their  works  of  darkness  (Eph. 
2:1,  3,  12;  4:18).  Mankind  is  in  an  evil  plight,  but  to  this  aberrant 
and  undeserving  world  there  comes  a  message  of  grace.  "Grace"  and 
"gospel"  are  almost  convertible  terms.  Grace  is  the  quality  of  the  sov- 
ereign Father  who  has  not  averted  His  countenance  from  the  children  of 
men  in  fixed  displeasure,  but  has  turned  it  towards  them,  and  is  willing 
to  enter  into  fellowship  with  all  His  sinful  sons  who  will  turn  to  Him 
(Acts  11:23;  Rom.  1:5;  3:24;  Eph.  2:8;  James  4:6;  i  Peter  1:10). 
Salvation  issues  from  the  gracious  disposition  of  God.  The  gospel  is  the 
glad  tidings  that  God  has  actually  drawn  near  to  pardon  men. 

3.  Thus  the  New  Testament  idea  of  salvation  puts  it  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  mere  effort  of  man  by  himself.  It  is  not  the  result  of  his 
ethical  striving  to  loosen  himself  from  the  coils  that  his  sin  has  wound 
about  him ;  it  is  not  bestowed  as  a  measure  of  desert ;  it  does  not  come 
in  an  order  of  merit  to  those  whose  character  is  less  sinful  than  that 
of  their  fellows.  Salvation  is  a  free,  unstinted  gift  for  all  equally,  if 
they  will  receive  it,  from  the  Father  of  lights  whose  loving  face  is 
shadowed  by  no  eclipse  (James  1:17).  This  undeserved  blessing  is  so 
beyond  the  devisings  of  man,  both  in  its  present  potency  and  its  promise, 
that  its  contemplation  awakens  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  to 
ever-increasing  marvel.  History  converges  upon  its  announcement ;  the 
prophets  of  the  past,  burdened  with  such  gracious  purposes,  peer  into 
the  future  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  its  glories,  and  the  angels  in  heaven 
cease  for  a  moment  in  their  service  to  behold  the  progress  of  the  message 
on  earth  (i  Peter  1:10-12;  Eph.  1:4,  10). 


86 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  12:    The  Gospel 


Fifth  Day:    How  Can  Sinful  Man  Approach  the  Holy 

God 

1.  The  primary  fact  of  the  gospel  is  its  message  as  to  God.  He  is  the 
Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  comfort  (2  Cor.  1:3),  the  Bestower  of 
grace,  the  Enricher  with  every  blessing  (i  Cor.  1:4,  5)  ;  He  pardons 
sin  and  sheds  the  beauty  of  holiness  on  all  who  come  within  the  range 
of  His  gifts  (Heb.  13:20,  21).  But  the  God  of  the  New  Testament  is 
also  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  eternal  righteous  One  in 
whom  is  light  and  no  darkness  at  all  (i  John  1:5).  No  shadow  from 
the  clouds  of  our  sinful  world  is  cast  upon  His  holiness  (Job  15:15; 
Heb.  9:23).  How  then  can  He  come  into  contact  with  such  a  world 
as  ours?  Sin  is  the  negation  of  the  divine  rule.  God  is  holy  love.  Are 
not  the  objects  of  His  love  only  those  who  love  righteousness  and  hate 
iniquity?  Is  it  not  self-contradicting  for  a  holy  God  to  have  intercourse 
with  a  world  of  sinful  men  ?  How  is  the  Christian  message  of  the  God 
of  grace  possible? 

2.  The  Jew  felt  this  difficulty,  and  in  order  not  to  infringe  upon  the 
divine  holiness  he  taught  that  Jehovah  dwelt  apart  from  this  world.  The 
Jew  had  become  a  deist.  Bold  and  hard  as  this  doctrine  was  it  ex- 
pressed a  far  profounder  religious  idea  than  that  of  the  Greeks,  who 
allowed  their  gods  freer  license  than  men  in  their  debaucheries.  Jehovah 
was  for  the  Jew  at  once  the  source  and  the  standard  of  all  moral  ex- 
cellence. Plato  had  put  this  dilemma,  Is  holiness  holiness  because  it  is 
loved  by  the  gods?  or  is  it  loved  by  the  gods  because  it  is  holiness? 
The  Hebrew  replied,  The  will  of  God  is  holiness.  Holiness  is  not  a  law 
that  stands  above  and  outside  God.  Garbled  as  was  the  teaching  of  the 
later  scribes,  the  message  of  Israel  was  always  recognizable,  that  God  is 
an  ethical  Person  from  whom  comes  the  unchanging  moral  order  of  the 
world. 

3.  _  But  here  arose  the  despair  of  prophecy  (Isa.  6:5-7).  The  higher 
the  ideal  of  holiness  the  more  impossible  did  its  realization  appear. 
Mortal  man  is  overpowered  by  the  sublime  moral  excellence  of  Jehovah 
(Gen.  32:30;  Ex.  33:20).  He  is  the  unapproachable  Sovereign,  the  only 
incomparable  Object  of  human  adoration.  Purity  of  life  was  a  demand 
even  for  the  worshiper  in  the  temple  (Ps.  15;  24:3-6).  How  then  can 
frail,  sinful  man  draw  near  to  the  eternal  holy  God  ? 


87 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   12:    The  Gospel 


Sixth  Day  :    The  Prophetic  Conception  of  the  Holiness 
OF  God  Surpassed  by  That  of  the  New  Testament 


1.  Though  the  substance  of  the  teaching  of  the  prophets  never  quite 
perished  from  the  people  even  in  the  most  degenerate  days  of  Judaism, 
there  had  been  a  deplorable  abatement  in  the  ideal.  They  seem  to  have 
argued  that  since  purity  could  be  found  absolutely  only  in  God,  they 
must  cease  to  aim  too  high.  Man  must  be  satisfied  with  something  less 
exacting  than  absolute  righteousness.  Jehovah  would  be  contented  with 
what  is  attainable  by  so  frail  a  creature.  This  led  inevitably  to  the  Jew 
falling  to  the  lower  ideal  which  he  had  pitched  for  his  minimum  require- 
ment of  character.     The  heroic  died  out  of  his  morals. 

2.  In  the  desert  of  Judcca  a  prophet  is  heard  once  more  when  John 
the  Baptist  calls  the  people  to  repentance,  and  multitudes  are  consecrated 
to  a  new  life.  Jehovah  is  no  absentee  God.  He  is  coming  to  speak  to 
His  people.  Even  now  the  living  God  is  on  His  way.  There  shall  be 
much  winnowing  on  the  old  threshing  floor  and  a  harvest  of  fresh  grain 
be  brought  in.  The  gospels  open  with  this  call  to  reformation  in  order 
to  prepare  for  approaching  judgment  (Matt.  3:1-12). 

3.  Pure  as  was  the  prophetic  idea  of  God,  revived  in  the  preaching  of 
the  Baptist,  it  was  surpassed  by  that  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles.  God  the 
Father  is  Spirit  (John  4:21-24).  His  holiness  can  no  longer  be  sym- 
bolized by  any  such  ritual  as  even  the  prophets  of  Israel  employed. 
True  worship  must  be  in  man's  spirit  where  the  divine  image  has  been 
left  upon  him,  and  by  a  communion  which  is  real,  between  God  and  the 
soul  in  very  truth,  and  not  merely  through  the  darkened  glass  of  the 
old  temple  service.  He  is  the  Father,  but  the  Holy  Father  (i  Peter  i: 
15-17).  Paul  also  has  a  passion  for  righteousness  (Rom.  9:14-24;  3:3-6). 
One  of  the  leading  themes  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  the  necessity 
of  a  more  sympathetic  and  faithful  priest  (Heb.  2:17;  4:14-16),  a  more 
real  tem.ple  and  a  more  efficient  sacrifice  (7:26-28;  8:1,  2;  9:14;  10: 
19-22),  in  order  that  we  may  enjoy  fellowship  with  our  heavenly  Father. 
But  it  is  needless  to  labor  at  such  a  plain  truth  as  speaks  from  every 
page  of  the  New  Testament.  From  God  the  primal  light  is  the  highest 
that  hath  entered  into  the  mind  of  man  of  purity,  virtue,  holiness. 


88 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   12:    The  Gospel 


Seventh  Day  :    Jesus  Christ  the  Proof  that  God  is  Holy 

Love 

1.  But  no  less  distinctive  of  the  New  Testament  conception  of  God  is 
the  idea  of  His  love.  He  is  the  Father,  albeit  the  Holy  Father.  He  re- 
deems the  world  from  sin  and  reconciles  it  to  Himself.  How  is  this 
possible?  It  is  because  He  is  Holy  Love  (i  John  4:7-19).  Only  the 
Holy  God  could  devise  salvation,  for  all  sin  is  rebellion  against  His  will. 
Only  the  God  of  Love  could  effect  salvation,  for  this  is  the  one  power 
that  can  overcome  hate.  Holy  Love  is  not  indiscriminate  benevolence, 
a  quality  less  than  the  highest  in  a  world  where  moral  order  is  supreme. 
Whatever  rescue  is  purposed  by  Divine  Love  must  not  do  violence  to 
Divine  Holiness.  The  message  of  the  gospel  is  that  God  the  Father 
Himself  has  shown  to  the  world  not  only  His  supreme  love,  but  His 
supreme  wisdom  in  establishing  such  a  salvation  (John  1:29;  Rom.  3: 
26;  I  Peter  1:18,  19;  i  John  1:7-9). 

2.  This  is  just  the  message  the  world  needs.  But  is  it  true?  A 
prophet  might  have  a  vision  of  such  blessed  hope  born  of  his  travail  in 
this  world  of  distress  and  sin,  but  what  proof  could  he  afford  to  others 
that  his  dream  was  more  than  his  own  ideal  cast  upon  the  lurid  back- 
ground of  life?.  There  are  other  things  in  life  besides  ideals.  We  have 
an  awful  experience.  Sin  reigns.  Death,  its  curse,  is  part  of  the  crushing 
natural  order  to  which  the  proudest  must  submit.  Is  there  in  reality,  as 
the  noblest  of  our  race  have  believed,  a  realm  of  eternal  truth  beyond  the 
present,  so  that  this  world  is  but  a  gloomily  brilliant  drop  scene,  which 
shall  some  day  rise  and  disclose  the  glory  that  excelleth? 

3.  In  answer  to  such  questionings  the  unanimous,  nay,  passionate  re- 
ply of  the  New  Testament  writers  is  that  they  have  proof  of  these  be- 
liefs as  to  God  and  the  other  world  which  are  beyond  the  shadow  of  a 
cavil.  Never  since  the  birth  of  history  has  there  been  such  conviction 
of  the  reality  of  the  unseen  and  of  the  triumph  of  human  nature  in  that 
goal  of  all  good,  the  Kingdom  of  God.  All  their  avenues  of  sense, 
thought  and  heart  were  crowded  with  proofs  not  to  be  gainsaid  that  the 
things  most  surely  believed  by  them  were  true.  But  these  proofs  were 
all  gathered  up  for  them  in  the  one  great  fact — Jesus  Christ.  He  was 
not  only  the  proof  of  their  gospel.  He  was  their  gospel.  To  use  the 
fine  old  figure,  He  is  the  Rock  of  Ages,  .^.gainst  it  waves  might  dash, 
men  might  be  swept  past  it,  mists  and  clouds  might  gather  round  its 
peaks,  but  He  stood  as  the  one  great  fact  that  could  not  be  shaken.  In 
Him  was  a  wealth  of  truth  as  to  the  reconciling  and  triumphant  Holy 
Love  of  God  that  was  beyond  mortal  powers  to  track  out  (Eph.  3:8). 


89 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


First  Day:    Our  Gospels  the  Product  of  Faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Risen  and  Living  Son  of  God 


1.  It  is  assumed  in  the  New  Testament  that  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  faith  was  laid  when  Jesus  Christ  appeared  on  the  scene  of  the 
world's  history.  The  four  gospels  stand  at  its  beginning  as  the  source 
from  which  the  new  life  took  its  rise.  These  gospels  were  written  of 
course  by  believers,  and  they  present  the  average  Christian  opinion  of 
Christ  from,  at  latest,  the  last  quarter  of  the  first  century  onwards.  We 
have  no  life  of  Christ,  strange  to  say  not  even  any  significant  estimate 
of  Him  or  His  work,  from  Jew  or  pagan.  Those  who  wrote  these  gos- 
pels as  they  now  stand  were  not  only  sympathetic  towards  Jesus,  but 
were  persuaded  that  He  had  a  right  to  those  Divine  attributes  which  in 
the  Old  Testament  were  the  prerogatives  of  Jehovah  alone.  So  every  in- 
cident of  His  life  on  earth  is  recorded  by  men  who  were  convinced  that 
He  was  the  Son  of  God.  The  facts  are  dyed  in  the  color  in  which  they 
were  immersed. 

2.  Every  gospel  was  written  after  the  epistles  of  Paul.  They  saw  the 
light  first  in  a  world  which,  we  have  already  seen,  accepted  a  common 
gospel,  and  the  evident  purpose  of  each  narrative  is  so  to  portray  the 
life  of  Jesus  as  to  edify  a  church  already  holding  a  gospel  in  all  essen- 
tials the  same  as  that  given  us  in  the  epistles  of  Paul.  Even  the  gospel 
of  Mark,  which  is  accepted  to-day  by  scholars  as  the  earliest  of  all,  is 
in  its  present  form  a  portraiture  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  in  very 
much  the  same  sense  as  Rom.  1:1-4. 

3.  For  our  present  purpose  therefore  we  may  take  our  gospels  as 
they  now  stand,  postponing  any  ulterior  questions  as  to  the  Jesus  of  his- 
tory, since  our  aim  is  to  study  the  Person  whom  the  Church,  whose 
life  we  have  alreadv  seen,  placed  at  the  heart  of  her  gospel.  That 
Church  found  both  her  motive  and  her  hope  in  the  Christ  whose  nature 
was  far  beyond  any  human  proportions,  and  believed  intensely  that  this 
Christ  was  also  the  Jesus  of  history.  Unfortunately,  perhaps  one  may 
say,  this  belief  is  not  so  universal  in  our  age,  "sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale 
cast  of  thought."  But  what  Figure  is  it  that  comes  forth  with  such 
majesty  from  the  pages  of  our  gospels? 


90 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Second  Day:    Elements  in  His  Perfect  Character — Its 

Equipoise 

1.  (i)  Jesus  is  represented  in  the  gospels  as  a  perfectly  sinless  hu- 
man being,  and  as  the  supreme  ideal  of  manhood.  This  is  stated  in  so 
many  words  in  John  8 :  46,  and  is  an  assumption  in  the  Person  portrayed 
throughout  the  fourth  gospel  (John  i :  14-18,  29;  6:51 ;  18:37).  But  it  is 
also  involved  in  the  synoptic  gospels — in  the  narratives  of  the  Baptism 
and  Transfiguration  (Mark  i:ii;  9:7),  in  the  intuition  of  the  demons 
(Mark  1:24),  the  self-reproach  of  Peter  (Luke  5:8),  in  the  insincere 
admission  of  the  Pharisees  who  could  find  no  fault  in  Him  (Matt.  22: 
16),  the  testimony  of  Pilate  (Matt.  27:24),  and  of  the  centurion  (Luke 
23:47)- 

2.  Various  elements  in  the  character  of  Jesus  contribute  to  its  per- 
fection, (a)  His  life  as  depicted  in  the  gospels  displays  wonderful  equi- 
poise. The  perfection  of  the  Greek  statue  was  its  absolute  proportion, 
each  part  being  wrought  out  to  the  right  mean  in  which  excellence 
resides,  and  each  part  harmonizing  with  the  rest.  The  Greek  put  his 
ideal  of  perfect  beauty  into  marble ;  Jesus  Christ  embodied  a  more  ideal 
beauty  in  human  flesh  and  blood.  He  also  lived  a  life  of  true  propor- 
tion, being  neither  an  ascetic  nor  a  light-hearted  man  of  the  world. 
Mingling  with  the  multitudes  on  the  highway  He  knew  the  cares  and 
pleasures  of  the  average  man  and  woman  (Matt.  6:19-34).  It  was  a 
delight  for  Him  to  have  intercourse  with  them,  so  that  His  enemies  re- 
viled Him  because  He  was  not  only  friendly  with  social  outcasts  (Matt. 
9:11),  but  apparently  enjoyed  life  with  them  (Matt.  11:19).  He  loved 
the  world  of  men,  rejoicing  with  those  who  rejoiced  (John  2:1-11),  and 
weeping  with  those  that  wept  (John  11:35). 

3.  It  is,  however,  an  error  to  think  of  Jesus  as  light  of  heart  and  free 
from  care  as  "a  brook  warbling  through  a  glade  in  summer  time."  His- 
tory has  not  been  far  astray  in  depicting  Jesus  as  "the  man  of  sorrows." 
Confronted  each  day  by  Pharisees  who  had  turned  the  religion  of 
Jehovah  into  a  mockery,  and  by  a  world  abandoned  to  material  pursuits. 
He  often  utters  a  cry  of  sadness  (Mark  3:5;  8:11,  12,  15,  17)  ;  the  bur- 
den of  men's  suffering  pressed  sorely  on  Him  (Mark  7:8;  John  11:38), 
and  His  own  life  was  lived  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross  (Mark  2:20; 
8:31;  10:4s).  But  His  sorrow  was  tempered  by  the  constant  thought 
of  His  Father's  will,  and  His  highest  joy  was  irradiated  by  gladsome 
service  to  others. 


91 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Third  Day  :    His  Sinlessness 


1.  (b)  There  is  no  trace  of  self-dissatisfaction  in  the  life  of  Jesus. 
It  is  true  that  He  grew  in  wisdom  (Luke  2:52),  and  the  temptation 
(Luke  4:1-13)  is  explicable  only  on  the  assumption  that  when  God's 
will  was  revealed  to  Him  in  the  baptism,  He  found  it  a  hard  struggle 
to  abandon  the  ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  till  this  time  He 
had  cherished  as  the  will  of  God,  for  the  higher  ideal  of  winning  the 
kingdom  through  a  life  of  suffering.  But  the  narrative  distinctly  states 
that  He  was  victorious  (4:13),  and  thus  far  He  had  evidently  attained. 
Other  struggles  came,  notably  the  agonized  fear  of  Gethsemane  (Luke 
22:44),  but  they  reveal  to  us  the  process  by  which  He  learned  obedience 
(Heb.  5:7,  8),  a  progress  in  which  He  put  his  foot  firmly,  if  often  with 
infinite  pain,  on  the  step  that  rose  before  Him  and  never  wavered  nor 
retreated.  Unlike  the  ordinary  man  He  displays  none  of  the  repeated 
effort  to  force  a  reluctant  and  undisciplined  lower  self  into  obedience 
to  His  higher  nature.  Of  all  men  He  alone  can  be  said  to  have  at- 
tained. 

2.  The  distress  of  Jesus  is  occasioned  by  the  evils  among  which  He 
feels  constrained  to  live.  His  love  impels  Him  to  sacrifice  His  own 
felicity  in  order  to  place  Himself  alongside  of  men  whose  natures  and 
conditions,  so  antagonistic  to  His  own  in  many  respects,  must  have 
caused  Him  intense  suffering.  Against  the  purity  of  His  life  the  depth 
to  which  hatred  can  go  seems  abysmal.  No  one  by  life  and  word  has 
ever  given  even  approximately  such  a  relentless  exposure  of  the  heart  of 
sin.  Apart  from  the  interpretation  of  Gethsemane  as  the  proof  that 
Jesus  had  taken  upon  Himself  a  responsibility  for  sins,  which  were 
causing  Him  no  sense  of  personal  guilt,  He  is  not  so  brave  in  death 
as  many  an  average  man. 

3.  Jesus  looks  into  the  mirror  of  His  own  heart  to  find  reflected 
there  the  will  of  God  (Matt.  11:27;  John  5:19)-  Paul  on  the  contrary 
always  looks  to  Christ,  and  his  life  is  one  of  desperate  struggle,  the  odds 
being  often  so  heavy  against  him  that  he  almost  fears  for  the  result 
(i  Cor.  9:27).  Jesus  having  created  a  new  sense  of  sin  in  the  world, 
and  having  set  an  unattainable  standard  of  conduct  before  men.  must 
surely  be  sinless,  if  He  is  thus  free  from  self-dissatisfaction.  He  reads 
the  hearts  of  others  (Mark  2:9)  ;  could  He  not  read  His  own.  and  see 
the  slightest  taint  of  sin  if  there  had  been  any  there?  Could  He  in 
truth  have  uttered  the  words  of  Matt.  11:28-30  unless  He  had  been 
pure  in  heart? 


92 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Fourth  Day  :    His  Sympathy,  and  Attitude  Towards  God 


1.  (c)  Jesus  exhibits  perfect  sympathy  towards  men.  His  judg- 
ments are  expressed  with  searching  truthfulness,  and  he  reads  men's 
motives  at  a  glance.  Hypocrisy  is  revealed  with  scorn  (Matt.  22:18; 
23:i3flF.).  But  He  calls  the  sinner  and  the  outcast  to  Himself  without 
harshness  (Luke  7:47;  John  5:14;  Mark  14:38).  In  spite  of  His  own 
purity  He  can  deal  mercifully  with  the  sinner.  (See  especially  the  pas- 
sage inserted  in  John  8:1-11).  In  this  marvelous  combination  He  sur- 
passes the  greatest  of  His  apostles,  w'ho  for  all  their  moral  sanity  oc- 
casionally overstepped  the  mark  (Gal.  5:12;  6:17;  2  Cor.  I2:iff. ;  cf. 
I  John  2:22  with  Matt.  12:32).  But  Jesus  knew  exactly  how  to  appor- 
tion guilt,  how  to  hold  the  balance  between  what  was  within  one's  power 
and  what  beyond  it.  So  the  multitudes  gathered  round  Him  in- 
stinctively. Women  laden  with  their  sins  were  not  ashamed  in  His 
presence.  Even  Judas  killed  himself  in  remorse  for  having  betrayed 
Him. 

2.  Jesus  is  further  the  perfect  pattern  for  men  in  their  attitude 
towards  God.  He  is  perfectly  obedient  as  a  Son  to  His  Father.  Prayer 
is  His  constant  refuge  when  He  is  wearied  out  by  sympathizing  with 
human  sorrows  (Mark  i  :35).  Before  the  crises  of  His  career  He  with- 
draws into  solitude  for  communion  with  His  Father  (Luke  6:12;  9:18). 
His  life  is  fed  on  His  Father's  word  (Matt.  4:4),  to  do  His  will  is  His 
nourishment  (John  4:34).  Every  turn  that  opens  up  for  Him  some 
new  phase  of  His  work  is  announced  by  His  Father's  voice  (John  2:4; 
Luke  10:21 ;  John  7:30;  12:23;  Mark  14:35). 

It  is  in  this  utter  obedience  to  His  heavenly  Father  that  Jesus  is  the 
Example  for  His  followers.  His  purity  and  moral  completeness  are 
beyond  what  frail  men  can  hope  to  attain  in  this  life,  but  His  life  of 
faith  in  God,  the  source  of  His  strength,  is  the  final  exhibition  of  our 
duty  and  attitude  towards  our  unseen  Father. 


93 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Fifth  Day  :     Some  Leading  Principles  in  the  Teaching 

OF  Jesus 

1.  (2)  The  teaching  of  Jesus  contributes  largely  to  the  estimate 
which  we  form  of  the  character  of  this  Person  in  whom  the  brotherhood 
believed.  His  doctrine  dealt  chiefly  with  eternal  life  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Its  conditions  of  entrance  are  given  in  John  3:3;  Matt.  18:3;  and 
the  quality  of  its  members  in  Matt.  5 : 1-16.  They  are  bound  over  to  a 
most  stringent  righteousness  penetrating  below  the  letter  of  God's  law 
to  its  spirit  (Matt.  5:17-20).  There  are  two  foci  to  the  ellipse  of  the 
life  of  a  citizen  of  the  Kingdom  of  God — love  to  God  and  love  to  man 
(Mark  12:28-31).  Love  is  thus  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  Now  for- 
evermore  religion  and  morality  are  united.  It  is  true  that  the  Old 
Testament  prophets  had  sought  to  unite  what  the  ritualists  had  divorced, 
but  with  comparative  unsuccess  (Micah  6:8).  Jesus  brought  into 
prominence  the  deepest  truths  of  the  old  covenant  and  made  them  live 
in  the  hearts  of  His  disciples. 

2.  He  distinguishes  what  is  ethical  and  spiritual  from  what  is  merely 
ceremonial  or  civil  (Matt.  5:21 — 6:18).  Essentially  dmerent  as  they 
are  in  themselves  they  lay  side  by  side  in  the  Jewish  economy  as  in- 
timately as  the  particles  in  a  heap  of  iron  filings  and  sulphur,  though 
they  were  never  fused  into  one,  and  in  that  age  there  was  no  prophetic 
power  which  like  the  magnet  could  disengage  the  true  steel  from  the 
heap.  Jewry  was  ruled  more  by  caste  than  by  true  religion.  But  Jesus 
swept  away  the  artificial  and  unethical  distinctions  of  ritual  cleanness 
(Mark  7:1-23).  This  was  to  prove  a  far-reaching  revolution,  though 
formally  it  was  only  the  clear  enunciation  of  the  old  demand  for  purity 
of  heart  (Prov.  4:23).  Instead  of  the  worship  of  the  letter  or  the  form, 
God  must  be  worshiped  in  spirit  and  in  truth  (John  4:23,  24),  and  along 
with  this  must  go  genuine  service  towards  man,  which  is  most  truly 
illustrated  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  man  (Mark  10:45). 

3.  The  teaching  of  Jesus  does  not  consist  of  precepts,  nor  is  it  a  new 
codified  morality,  but  it  comprehends  a  few  universal  principles  which 
cover  the  life  of  man  as  it  relates  to  God,  his  fellow,  and  himself.  He 
teaches  further  that  the  Old  Testament  when  rightly  understood  con- 
tains the  substance,  if  it  be  only  in  bud.  of  what  in  His  words  bursts 
forth  into  full  flower  (Matt.  5:17-20;  John,  5:46,  47).  But  they  have  a 
wonderful  originality,  (a)  He  gives  the  old  ideas  new  emphasis,  new 
perspective  and  a  spiritual  purity  which  the  Old  Testament  setting  often 
obscured.  This  is  most  obviously  so  in  His  doctrine  of  God  as  the  holy 
yet  loving  Father  of  each  individual  who  will  accept  the  salvation 
His  love  has  provided  (John  3:16).  (b)  Religion  and  morality  are 
indissolubly  combined,  and  the  essential  and  formal  in  worship,  civil 
ordinances  and  the  ethical  life  distinguished  by  a  spiritual  principle 
(Matt.  12:7;  9:14-17;  6:1-18).  (c)  Morality  is  widened  to  embrace 
mankind.  Whoever  is  in  need  is  one's  neighbor  (Luke  10:29-37). 
(For  the  subject  of  this  study  see  Bosworth's  "Studies  in  the  Teaching 
of  Jesus,"  xvi. — xxiii.) 

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The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Sixth  Day  :     Jesus  as  a  Worker  of  Miracles 


1.  To  appreciate  the  effect  of  this  teaching  on  the  disciples  and  the 
multitudes  we  must  remember  the  wonderful  character  of  Him  who 
taught,  and  further  the  power  which  was  disclosed  in  His  life.  Person, 
words  and  works  are  all  combined  in  our  gospels  to  produce  a  Figure 
of  extraordinary  impressiveness.  So  we  proceed  to  the  miraculous 
element  in  the  gospels  as  they  stand. 

2.  Jesus  has  great  influence  over  the  demons,  working  by  the  finger 
of  God  results  that  put  the  Pharisees  to  shame.  Their  exorcism  was 
as  a  rule  a  bungling  imposition  (Mark  3:22-27;  cf.  Luke  11:14-26). 
His  ministry  is  filled  with  the  liberation  of  victims  to  this  awful  servi- 
tude. 

3.  There  are  other  miracles  with  a  greater  show  of  power  embedded 
in  these  narratives,  not  only  miracles  of  healing  (Matt.  4:24;  12:15), 
but  stupendous  acts  of  supremacy  over  nature  in  its  mightier  aspects 
(Mark  5:35-43;  6:30-52).  No  reader,  however,  can  fail  to  be  struck 
by  the  sobriety  of  the  delineation,  for  all  these  mighty  deeds  are  inter- 
woven in  a  narrative  which  sets  forth  Jesus  as  a  marvelous  moral  char- 
acter. The  temptation  of  Jesus,  in  which  once  and  for  all  the  spiritual 
principles  of  His  life's  work  are  assumed,  involves  the  possesion  of 
ability  to  work  miracles. 

There  is  nothing  of  the  mythological  in  this  Figure.  The  mythical 
hero  performs  wondrous  deeds  in  order  to  magnify  his  own  glory  in 
the  sight  of  others,  either  by  extricating  himself  from  a  difficulty  or 
astounding  by  his  power.  Jesus  never  does  this  (Matt.  4:3-7).  He 
is  thoroughly  human  as  far  as  He  Himself  is  concerned.  His  power  is 
used  only  for  the  good  of  others.  Then  His  works  are  sane,  self- 
restrained  and  ethical.  So  their  effect  on  the  people  was  not  to  fill  them 
with  alarm,  as  though  their  life  were  delivered  up  to  the  caprice  of  an 
all-powerful  man.  He  gave  them  instead  a  sense  of  security,  because 
they  felt  that  His  pure  will  lay  behind  His  works.  A  particularly  in- 
structive example  is  afforded  by  Luke  5:8,  where  Peter's  surprise  is 
aroused  not  by  the  display  of  power,  but  by  the  holiness  of  One  who 
could  do  such  a  miracle.  No  figure  in  literature  competes  with  Jesus_  in 
the  sanity  of  His  miracles,  and  the  perfect  moral  restraint  under  which 
He  performs  them  for  the  good  of  others  rather  than  of  Himself. 


95 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   13:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 


Seventh  Day:     The  Place  of  the  Miracles  of  Jesus  in 
THE  Apostolic  Gospel 

1.  We  may  consider  now  what  contribution  the  miracles  of  Jesus 
made  to  the  gospel  in  the  view  of  those  who  have  recorded  them  for  us.. 

Those  disciples  believed  intensely  that  Jesus  was  Lord  of  this  world, 
so  that  He  was  able  to  save  them  from  any  earthly  disaster.  Love  was 
at  the  helm  and  would  bring  them  safely  through,  for  He  could  say  to 
the  waves,  "Peace,  be  still"  (Mark  4:35-41).  This  belief  was  un- 
doubtedly a  great  source  of  comfort  to  His  followers,  who  from  the 
sixth  decade  of  the  first  century  were  subjected  to  world  forces  so 
hostile  that  nothing  but  the  most  vivid  faith  in  a  Master  who  was  Lord 
even  of  world  empires  would  suffice  to  deliver  them.  Is  the  buoyant 
faith  of  the  Apocalypse  and  of  the  early  Church  generally  to  be  credited 
with  transmuting  a  non-miraculous  Jesus  into  the  all-powerful  Christ, 
simply  because  they  needed  such  an  one  to  support  them  in  their  trials? 
When  men  are  sinking  in  a  storm  they  need  more  than  a  straw  to  save 
them. 

2.  The  miraculous  control  of  Jesus  over  the  world  also  supplied  their 
gospel  with  the  truth  that  the  world  must  serve  the  kingdom,  and  the 
material  become  a  slave  to  the  spiritual.  His  sovereignty  over  nature 
never  seemed  to  them  to  violate  law,  for  according  to  His  teaching  and 
their  belief,  the  world  was  nothing  in  itself,  and  was  only  to  last  until 
God's  purposes  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  this  earthly  scene  should 
be  complete  (Matt.  24:14,  29-31,  35).  The  natural  world  was  merely  a 
stage  for  a  spiritual  drama. 

3.  Life  remained  for  them  very  much  as  it  had  been.  They  toiled  for 
their  living,  they  had  pain,  they  died,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Jesus  had 
raised  some  from  the  dead.  They  saw  that  He  had  not  delivered  Himself 
from  privation,  nor  suffering,  nor  any  untoward  circumstances,  not  even 
from  death  itself.  And  that  not  because  He  was  unable  to  do  so,  but  be- 
cause in  His  love  and  wisdom  He  had  other  purposes  for  His  kingdom. 
So  they,  too,  acquiesced  in  a  life  of  privation  and  martyrdom  like  His, 
and  did  not  lose  hope.  H  He  did  not  rescue  them  from  the  demonic 
forces  of  the  world  it  was  not  from  His  lack  of  power,  or  love.  The 
reason  lay  in  His  inscrutable  will.  All  life  for  them  was  one.  Jesus 
Christ  was  Lord  of  all.  This  fact  they  traced  back  to  the  earthly  life  of 
Jesus,  whose  illimitable  power  dispensed  by  His  perfect  love  to  all  in 
need,  first  proved  to  them  that  He  was  supreme  over  the  outer  world  of 
sense,  and  thereafter  was  guiding  the  humblest  human  soul  without 
fail  to  a  final  destiny  of  good  (cf.  Acts  2:22;  10:38). 


96 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


First  Day  :     Jesus  puts  Himself  Forward  as  an  Integral 
Portion  of  His  Message 


1.  Whom  then  does  Jesus  Christ  claim  to  be — so  perfect  in  His  hu- 
man character,  so  full  of  majesty,  so  unique  in  His  teaching,  so  impres- 
sive with  His  power?  He  speaks  with  incomparable  authority,  never 
ranking  Himself  with  the  prophets.  He  comes  forward  as  One  beyond 
whom  there  is  no  appeal.  He  never  weighs  and  balances,  but  decides 
with  unerring  insight.  The  people  were  not  long  in  discovering  a  new 
authority  in  Him  (Mark  1:21,  22).  The  scribes  taught  precedent  upon 
precedent,  always  finding  their  authority  in  the  Mosaic  law,  or  its  tradi- 
tional interpretation  through  the  great  rabbis.  Jesus  places  over  against 
"Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said,"  a  "but  I  say  unto  you"  (Matt.  5 : 
21,  22,  27,  28,  33,  34),  assuming  thereby  that  He  can  abrogate  the  Mosaic 
legislation  by  giving  it  His  own  fulfillment  of  its  meaning.  This  no 
prophet  could  have  done,  for  Moses  had  received  the  law  by  direct  reve- 
lation from  God.  Hence  in  issuing  new  legislation  for  His  kingdom 
Jesus  makes  an  implicit  claim  to  be  above  Moses.  Jesus  is  not  a 
prophet  reviving  the  teaching  of  the  past.  The  old  in  His  words  be- 
comes new. 

2.  Further  the  authority  of  Jesus,  as  the  gospels  show  Him,  does  not 
reside  in  the  teaching  itself,  as  though  it  were  a  word  of  God  whoever 
spoke  it.  His  gospel  does  not  stand  independently  of  Himself  as  did  the 
message  of  the  prophet,  of  whom  it  was  said,  "The  word  of  the  Lord 
came  unto  the  prophet"  (i  Sam.  3:7;  Jer.  17:15;  Hosea  i:2;_Zech.  4: 
6).  Jesus  utters  the  word  as  His  own.  Further  He  Himself  is  part  of 
His  message.  He  demands  faith  in  Himself  as  a  source  of  power  and 
life  (Matt.  11:27-30;  18:6).  He  stands  in  the  center  of  the  hopes  and 
fortunes  of  His  disciples  (Luke  12:8).  In  His  name  mighty  deeds  are 
to  be  done  (Matt.  7:22;  Luke  9:49;  Mark  9:23)  and  works  of  mercy 
performed  (Mark  9:39).  Especially  is  this  true  in  the  fourth  gospel. 
Jesus  becomes  food  for  His  followers.  His  flesh  and  blood  giving  them 
spiritual  sustenance  (John  3:16;  4:10,  14;  6:35,  51,  53-57)-  He  is  the 
Vine  and  His  disciples  like  branches  ingrafted  into  Him  draw  from  Him 
their  nutriment  (John  15:1-5).  Jesus  Himself  is  the  Saviour  of  men 
(Mark  2:17,  omit  "to  repentance"  as  in  R.  V.;  Luke  19:10;  Mark  15: 
31;  Luke  4:23;  John  4:42). 


97 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Second  Day  :    Jesus  Forgives  Sins 


1.  Analogous  to  this  is  the  authority  with  which  Jesus  forgives  sins, 
assuming  to  exercise  a  prerogative  which  the  Jews  regarded  with  right 
as  peculiarly  divine  (Mark  2:7).  His  enemies  readily  detected  the  dif- 
ference between  such  a  general  statement  as  "God  forgives  thy  sins," 
which  any  one  might  utter  as  a  fact,  to  be  either  disbelieved  or  accepted 
as  a  truism  in  many  cases  by  those  who  listen,  and  the  authoritative 
"Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,"  which  in  the  mouth  of  Christ  compelled 
belief  and  brought  a  most  gracious  sense  of  pardon.  Multitudes  of  sick 
souls  cannot  bring  themselves  to  believe  that  God  will  forgive  their  sins. 
They  think  they  are  in  too  grievous  a  case.  But  Jesus  persuaded  those 
who  listened  to  Him  that  their  sins  were  forgiven  (Mark  2:5-12;  Luke 
7:47-50;  John  8:11).  There  was  something  in  His  presence  that 
brought  instant  relief  to  their  hearts.  Men  did  not  question  that  He  had 
a  right  to  do  this,  for  a  gracious  peace-giving  power  proceeded  from 
Him  and  caused  a  great  calm  to  pass  upon  their  troubled  spirits.  They 
did  not  question  whether  possibly  they  would  still  have  to  settle  their 
accounts  with  God  against  whom  their  sins  had  really  been  committed. 
His  pardon  they  were  persuaded  carried  with  it  that  of  God  also. 

2.  To  pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow,  to  assuage  remorse, 
was  a  diviner  act  than  to  heal  disease,  inasmuch  as  the  cure  of  the  soul 
demands  a  physician  of  subtler  insight  and  more  potent  remedies.  And 
it  is  only  since  Jesus  has  appeared  on  earth  that  this  truth  of  forgive- 
ness has  become  an  axiom  of  the  Christian  consciousness.  As  long  as 
Israel  had  only  its  outward  ritual  the  sense  of  pardon  was  never  pro- 
found, for  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  could  never  take  away  sin.  Israel 
was  left  with  a  burden  of  transgression  for  which  there  was  indeed  a 
promise  of  removal,  but  nothing  more  actual  than  a  symbolic  atonement 
(Heb.  10:1-4).  So  the  great  promise  of  the  new  covenant  to  be 
initiated  in  the  Messianic  age  was  that  sins  would  be  forgiven  (Jer.  31 : 
34;  cf.  Heb.  10:15-18).  Jesus  made  the  gift  real.  He  brought  it  down 
to  earth,  and  on  His  own  initiative  He  did  what  no  man  had  ever  done 
before — He  forgave  sins,  and  made  His  disciples  feel  that  He  could 
cleanse  their  guilt  away. 


98 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Third  Day:     The  Term  "Son  of  Man,"  and  Its  Old 
Testament  Antecedents 

1.  The  names  applied  to  Jesus  in  the  gospels  are  very  significant  of 
His  character.  In  so  far  as  He  uses  them  they  are  claims  which  He 
puts  forward.  Of  these  far  the  most  frequent  is  the  term,  "Son  of 
Man,"  employed  only  by  Jesus  of  Himself,  never  by  His  disciples.  We 
are  not  concerned  here  with  any  discussion  of  what  the  title  may  have 
signified  as  it  was  originally  used.  Our  purpose  is  simply  to  examine  it 
in  the  gospels  as  they  stand,  so  that  we  may  get  some  idea  of  what  it 
conveyed  to  the  church  from  which  our  gospels  sprang. 

2.  Jesus  uses  it  of  Himself  in  every  phase  of  His  activity — His  lowli- 
ness (Luke  9:58),  His  majesty  (Mark  2:28),  His  service  (Luke  19: 
10;  Mark  10:45),  His  glorious  future  (Luke  21:27;  Matt.  26:64). 
Majesty  in  humiliation,  power  through  suffering,  royal  victory  by  ser- 
vice— this  varied  experience  falls  to  the  Son  of  Man.  He  must  be  a 
Person  of  extraordinary  range  of  character.  Who  can  this  Son  of  Man 
be?  was  the  question  which  the  people  put  after  He  had  taught  them 
for  some  time  (John  12:34). 

3.  There  are  certain  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which  might  sug- 
gest a  great  Figure  to  come,  of  whom  some  seers  caught  glimpses 
though  they  never  saw  Him  face  to  face.  Ps.  8  contains  a  remarkable 
prophecy  of  the  coming  glory  of  man  as  compared  with  his  present 
frailty.  Dan.  7 :  13,  14  also  speaks  of  an  eternal  Kingdom  of  One  like 
unto  a  Son  of  man  to  take  the  place  of  those  founded  on  brute  force. 
The  prophecies  of  Isaiah  also  foretell  a  kingdom  to  be  established  in 
righteousness  (60:1,  18-22),  which  is  to  be  set  up  through  the  agency 
of  the  Servant  of  the  Lord  (53:61).  This  is  the  most  magnificent  con- 
ception of  prophecy. 

4.  It  cannot  be  said  that  these  passages  as  they  stand  in  the  Old 
Testament  give  a  very  coherent  picture,  nor  need  we  be  surprised  that 
the  Jewish  ideas  as  to  the  person  of  their  coming  Deliverer  were  exceed- 
ingly vague.  Looking  back  we  can  read  the  gist  of  them — man  is  to  be 
delivered  from  his  present  humiliation  into  an  eternal  kingdom  of  right- 
eousness. The  Lord  of  this  kingdom  is  to  be  a  divinely  commissioned 
One  like  unto  a  Son  of  man  with  all  glorious  human  dignity;  preceding 
this  final  glory  there  is  a  process  of  much  suffering  on  the  part  of  the 
Servant  of  the  Lord  who  redeems  His  brethren.  But  we  read  that  unity 
into  all  these  passages  and  ideas  because  Jesus  Christ  stands  for  us  in 
the  gospels.  Look  into  His  life — the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  earth, 
and  there  come  streaming  up  into  its  focussed  light  all  those  divergent 
rays  from  hidden  depths  of  prophecy. 


99 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Fourth  Day:     The  Method  of  Christ's  Self-Revelation 

AS  Son  of  Man 


1.  It  seems  then  that  Jesus  used  the  term,  "Son  of  Man,"  as  a  para- 
ble, suggestive  of  these  foresights  of  the  Messiah.  To  have  spoken  of 
Himself  to  the  people  as  Messiah  would  have  been  to  defeat  His  pur- 
pose, for  they  had  one  idea  of  that  Figure,  and  He  wished  to  teach  them 
another.  He  wished  to  create  in  His  own  life  a  new  conception  of  what 
Messiah  should  be,  so  He  avoided  the  term  itself  as  current  but  debased 
coin.  But  as  He  lived,  wrought,  blessed,  forgave  sins,  called  men  unto 
Him,  taught  words  of  grace  and  truth,  made  the  future  of  men  de- 
pendent on  their  attitude  to  Himself  (Mark  8:38),  people  began  to  ask. 
Who  is  this  Person?  Can  Messiah  be  greater  than  He?  Must  He  not 
be  the  Messiah?  (John  7:31).  Then  when  the  time  was  ripe,  and  His 
followers  had  received  an  ineffaceable  impression  of  the  character  of 
Jesus,  He  admitted  that  He  was  the  One  for  whom  they  were  looking, 
foretold  in  Scripture^the  very  Messiah. 

2.  The  first  real  acknowledgment  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  made 
with  any  appreciation  of  its  meaning,  is  that  of  Peter  (Matt.  16:15) 
within  the  immediate  circle  of  His  followers.  And  Jesus  regards  it  as 
nothing  less  than  a  revelation  from  God  Himself — so  different  was  He, 
the  actual  Messiah,  from  the  figure  of  popular  imagination.  It  was 
probably  not  until  a  year  later  that  the  people  gave  Him  Messianic  ac- 
claim on  His  entry  into  Jerusalem  (Matt.  21  :i-ii). 

3.  The  method  of  Jesus  is  to  send  His  disciples  back  to  the  Scriptures 
to  discover  there  the  true  meaning  of  the  divine  promises  so  that  they 
may  learn  surely  if  slowly  that  they  are  being  fulfilled  in  a  far  deeper 
sense  in  His  life  than  they  at  first  imagined.  At  the  outset  of  His  career 
He  tells  the  people  that  He  is  to  do  the  work  of  the  Servant  of  the 
Lord  as  outlined  in  Isa.  61:1,  2  (Luke  4:16-30).  When  John  in  his 
despondency  sends  from  prison  to  ask  Jesus  whetlier  He  is  really  the 
Messiah,  instead  of  answering  directly  He  bids  his  diciples  report  to 
their  master  the  works  of  Jesus  so  that  he  may  see  that  the  promise  of 
the  Servant  is  being  fulfilled  in  Galilee  (Luke  7:18-23). 


100 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Fifth  Day:     The  Death  and  Return  in  Glory  of  the 

Son  of  Man 


1.  As  the  months  rolled  by  and  the  disciples  were  persuaded  that 
Jesus  was  the  Christ,  He  revealed  to  them  the  fact  that  Messiah  must 
die  (Mark  8:31),  and  this  was  repeated  again  and  again  to  most  un- 
willing learners  (Mark  9:31 ;  10:34,  45).  Unintelligible  as  the  word  was 
it  should  not  have  been  altogether  new,  for  the  note  of  sacrifice  must 
have  run  like  an  undertone  through  His  life.  Even  when  He  made  the 
highest  claims  and  was  most  prescient  of  coming  glory,  He  was  the 
Servant  of  the  Lord.  This  profoundest  conception  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment should  have  been  a  counterpoise  to  their  extravagant  hopes,  for  a 
true  Israelite  should  have  known  that  Israel  could  never  be  redeemed 
without  suffering  (Luke  24:25-27,  45,  46). 

2.  Another  large  element  in  the  Old  Testament  hope  of  the  Mes- 
sianic age  was  the  new  covenant  (Jer.  31 :3iff.)  whereby  God  would  par- 
don the  sins  of  the  true  Israel.  So  one  of  the  last  and  most  solemn  acts 
of  Messiah  is  to  institute  this  new  covenant  in  His  own  blood  (Matt  26: 
27,  28),  that  thereby  the  many  may  receive  pardon  for  their  sins.  This 
is  a  supreme  symbolical  act  of  the  Servant  of  the  Lord,  but  the  real 
agony  of  pouring  out  His  soul  unto  death  does  not  come  till  Gethsemane 
and  His  trial  (Matt.  26:38,  39;  John  19:10.  11).  The  travail  of  soul 
was  followed  by  its  reward,  when  as  He  always  foretold,  and  as  the 
narrative  records,  He  rises  the  glorious  Son  of  God  to  enter  into  His 
eternal  kingdom.  This  death  according  to  the  fourth  gospel  is  a  part 
of  His  exaltation  to  a  larger  life  (John  10:16;  12:32). 

3.  We  cannot  wonder  that  the  disciples  were  amazed  at  the  death  of 
such  a  perfect  Being  as  Jesus.  At  first  it  seemed  as  though  He  were 
deliberately  courting  death,  and  that  this  madness  would  bring  His 
Kingdom  to  an  end  (Luke  13:22,  31-35;  Mark  10:32).  Only  experience 
taught  them  the  necessity  that  He  should  reach  His  glorious  throne 
through  suffering.  For  Jesus  claimed  that  the  Son  of  Man  would  re- 
turn in  glory  to  be  the  Judge  of  all  (Mark  8:38;  Matt.  7:22.  23;  24:30, 
31;  26:64).  His  rising  from  the  dead  was  not  to  be  the  final  dealing 
of  Jesus  with  the  children  of  men. 

4.  So  Jesus  used  the  term.  Son  of  Man,  as  a  parable.  It  covered  His 
claims  as  Messiah.  The  Son  of  Man  of  His  creation  was  the  Messiah 
He  wished  to  be.  As  Son  of  Man  He  is  fulfiller  of  the  past,  and  Head  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  To  Him  all  must  come.  He  is  the  supreme  Man, 
who  has  proved  His  right  to  be  Lord  of  the  kingdom  of  men  because  by 
His  sacrifice  He  has  won  it  (Mark  10:45).  The  many  have  been  ran- 
somed thereby  and  have  their  sins  pardoned.  But  the  full  glory  of  the 
Messiah  will  only  be  manifest  when  the  Son  of  Man  returns  to  judgment. 


lOI 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Sixth  Day:    Jesus  the  Son  of  God 


1.  Jesus  also  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  The  gospel  is  the  gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God  (Mark  1:1).  He  is  initiated  into  His  public  career 
at  His  baptism  by  a  voice  from  His  Father  (Matt.  3: 17).  Similar  words 
are  repeated  at  the  transfiguration  (Matt.  17:5),  a  scene  which  sets  forth 
as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so  the  inherent  glory  of  Christ's  Person. 
The  blaze  of  light  was  the  concomitant  in  nature  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  excellence  that  burst  upon  them  for  a  moment. 

2.  Jesus  always  addresses  God  as  "my  Father,"  never  uniting  with 
His  disciples  to  call  Him  "our  Father."  Also  His  assent  to  the  ques- 
tion of  the  high  priest  at  His  trial  (Matt.  26:63)  is  regarded  by  the 
court  as  blasphemy.  All  these  incidents  are  explicable  on  the  far- 
reaching  claim  to  Divine  nature  which  He  puts  forth  in  Matt.  11 :  27-30. 
Two  positions  are  involved  here:  (a)  that  nothing  but  divine  inspira- 
tion can  enable  any  one  to  understand  who  the  Son  really  is  (cf.  Matt. 
16:17)  ;  (b)  none  can  know  the  real  nature  of  God  the  Father  except 
through  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  Therefore  the  Son  alone  can  call  the 
weary  and  heavy  laden  to  Him  for  rest.  Equally  sovereign  claims  to  the 
divine  nature  are  uttered  by  Jesus  in  Matt.  18:20;  28:18-20.  His  life  is 
a  continuous  power  unimpaired  by  death  and  unlimited  by  time  and 
space. 

3.  In  the  fourth  gospel  the  divine  nature  of  Jesus  is  the  theme  of 
many  of  the  discourses.  As  in  Matt.  11 :27,  so  in  John  i :  18  the  Son  is 
the  only  Revealer  of  the  Father.  He  is  one  with  the  Father  in  knowl- 
edge, power  and  life  (John  5  :20,  21,  26).  Life  radiating  from  the  Father 
becomes  in  the  Son  a  new  nucleus  of  light  as  it  were,  a  fountain  of  life 
for  men.  Being  one  with  the  Father  in  power  He  has  at  His  control 
all  the  divine  resources  for  the  establishment  of  His  Kingdom  (John  10: 
28-30).  He  is  also  the  object  of  the  Father's  love,  and  their  fellowship 
on  earth  is  but  a  continuation  of  an  eternal  loving  intimacy  (John  5 : 
20;  17:5,  24).  He  is  the  King  of  Truth  whose  eternal  realm  is  above 
(John  18:36-38).  The  meaning  of  all  this  is  that  Jesus  has  come  from 
another  world,  the  home  where  He  has  always  lived  with  His  Father  in 
closest  love,  in  order  to  make  known  here  on  earth  His  Father's  nature, 
and  His  will  for  us,  His  children. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   14:    The  Jesus  of  the  Gospels — His  Claim 


Seventh  Day  :     No  Man  Cometh  Unto  the  Father  but  by 

Me 


1.  The  witness  to  the  divine  sonship  of  Jesus  Christ  is  completed  in 
the  gospels  by  their  narratives  of  the  resurrection.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
to  discuss  in  this  place  their  historical  worth.  Even  at  His  earliest  fore- 
telling of  His  coming  death  rays  of  glory  flash  forth  around  the  disc  of 
His  eclipse,  for  He  always  prophesied  His  resurrection  (Mark  8:31; 
9:31;  10:34),  and  in  the  fourth  gospel  the  death  is  regarded  as  a  step 
towards  heavenly  dignity  (John  17:1).  But  it  was  not  till  the  shadow 
of  the  world  with  its  agony  and  death  moved  by  that  the  full  glory  of 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  was  revealed  to  His  followers  by  His  appear- 
ances in  His  risen  body.  He  was  emancipated  from  the  narrow  earthly 
house  to  enter  upon  a  wider  life,  and  to  go  shepherding  erring 
Gentiles  in  order  that  they  might  come  with  the  Jews  to  form  one 
flock  (John  10:16-18). 

2.  Thus  the  Jesus  of  the  gospels  makes  the  unhesitating  claim  that 
He  and  He  alone  can  reveal  God  to  the  world.  His  human  life  is  as  it 
were  the  mirror  in  which  we  can  read  the  full  glory,  truth  and  beauty  of 
God,  who  is  a  Spirit  (John  i :  14-18).  As  the  Son  He  is  the  living  portrait 
of  the  Father,  His  life  making  the  Divine  Spirit  concrete  for  men  (John 
14:6-11).  He  is  Son  of  God  because  also  the  Son  of  Man.  Only  the 
Head  of  the  kingdom  of  men  could  reveal  God  to  His  brethren.  Only  in 
the  perfect  human  nature  could  we  have  any  adequate  reflection  of  the 
divine.  How  is  it  possible  for  me  to  get  a  higher  conception  of  God 
than  from  the  .Son  of  Man,  whose  nature  is  so  fully  the  creation  of 
(Luke  1:3s),  and  possessed  by,  the  Holy  Spirit  (Luke  3:22)  that  He 
is  at  the  same  time  the  Son  of  God?  Jesus  asserts  that  He  is  different 
from  other  men,  because  He  has  an  endowment  of  God's  Spirit,  and  a 
perfection  of  manhood  which  puts  Him  at  the  head  of  the  race.  During 
His  life  Jesus  claimed,  according  to  the  gospels,  that  He  could  lead 
men  to  the  Father,  and  without  doubt  the  Jesus  of  the  gospels  has 
done  this  for  believers  ever  since.  Do  I  wish  to  know  what  God  is? 
I  look  to  Jesus  Christ.  His  life  on  earth,  as  it  stands  in  the  gospels, 
is  a  well  from  which  the  life  of  God  Himself  flows  into  my  soul.  In 
Christ  I  discover  the  mind  of  God,  His  love  towards  me,  His  purpose 
for  me  and  His  power  to  effect  that  purpose. 


103 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   15:    The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


First  Day:    The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ;  the 
Pauline  Conception  of  the  Living  Christ 


1.  The  churches  which  received  the  letters  of  the  New  Testament 
were  evangelized  by  missionaries  who  preached  substantially  the  Jesus 
Christ  of  our  gospels.  From  this  conception  there  sprang  up  on  every 
side,  even  in  the  hearts  of  pagans  who  had  never  seen  Jesus,  an  enthu- 
siastic devotion  to  His  person  (Acts  16:31;  17:2,  3,  6,  7;  i  Peter  1:8). 
Now  what  is  involved  in  this  universal  devotion  of  the  apostolic  church 
to  Jesus  Christ?    What  are  the  essential  elements  in  the  conception? 

2.  (i)  That  Jesus  Christ  is  a  living  Person.  He  is  not  merely  an 
entrancing  memory,  nor  does  He  fill  up  their  background  as  a  beautiful 
ideal  of  the  past.  He  is  one  whose  power  is  felt  in  the  midst  of  their 
present  world,  and  with  whom  they  hold  intercourse.  The  apostolic 
church  is  based  on  the  belief  that  Jesus  was  risen  from  the  dead.  The 
resurrection  meant  for  them  a  renewal  of  the  life  which  they  had  en- 
joyed with  Jesus  on  earth  before  His  death.  He  was  absent  from  them 
in  body,  but  His  Spirit  was  in  their  midst.  With  glad  assurance  the 
disciples  proclaim  that  their  Master  has  triumphed  over  death  and  is 
now  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  (Acts  2 :  24 ;  3  :  15  ;  4 :  10 ;  5  :  31 ;  17 : 
18).    Jesus  is  thus  the  Prince  of  Life. 

3.  Paul's  faith  in  the  living  Christ  is  obvious.  He  seems  to  lose  his 
own  self  in  that  of  Christ  (Gal.  2:20).  Paul  does  not  move  in  the  realm 
of  ideas  but  within  the  influence  of  a  living  Person.  Language  fails  him 
when  he  tries  to  express  the  intimacy  of  his  fellowship  with  his  Lord, 
his  favorite  term,  "in  Christ,"  denoting  that  every  faculty  is  absorbed  in 
the  life  of  which  Christ  is  the  aim  and  controlling  power  (Rom.  8:1; 
I  Cor.  1:2).  The  old  man  perishes  and  the  believer  becomes  a  limb  of 
the  living  Christ  (Rom.  6:11;  Col.  3:3).  "To  the  Christ  within  Paul 
attributed  all  that  he  did  and  experienced  as  a  Christian  man.  ...  It  was 
as  if  the  very  personality  of  Christ  had  entered  into  the  apostle  and  used 
him  as  the  organ  of  its  expression"  (Somerville).  At  a  well  remem- 
bered moment  in  his  career  Christ  a  living  Person  entered  into  his  life 
and  ever  since  he  has  had  no  mind  or  will  of  his  own.  In  preaching  his 
gospel  he  himself  puts  forward  no  claim  on  his  own  behalf.  Christ 
leads  him  like  a  slave,  while  his  message,  bringing  to  all  the  knowledge 
of  the  grace  of  God  is  a  fragrance  of  Christ  Himself,  life-giving  to  those 
who  will  accept  it  (2  Cor.  2:14,  15).  (See  Findlay's  article,  "St.  Paul," 
ii.,  3;  c.  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  Bible,  Vol.  III.) 


104 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   15:    The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Second  Day  :     Apostolic  Belief  in   Christ  as  a  Living 

Person 

1.  All  the  other  epistles  agree  in  regarding  Jesus  Christ  as  a  living 
Person.  According  to  Hebrews  He  is  the  High  Priest,  who  makes 
continual  intercession  for  His  brethren  in  the  heavenly  temple  where 
He  stands  in  the  sight  of  God.  This  He  does  by  reason  of  His  endless 
life  (Heb.  7 :  16,  24,  25  ;  9 :24).  He  is  now  crowned  with  glory  and  honor, 
the  first  of  His  brethren  to  inherit  the  world  to  come  (Heb.  2:8,  9). 
Thither  He  has  taken  with  Him  His  human  nature  enriched  by  the  life 
on  earth,  in  which  He  sympathized  with  the  sins  and  sufferings  of  men 
(Heb.  2:17,  18).  No  epistle  surpasses  that  of  Hebrews  in  its  perfect 
blending  of  the  earthly  experience  of  Jesus  with  His  present  glory  in 
active  service  to  His  brethren  who  are  in  this  world  (Heb.  10:20). 
Having  suffered  through  His  earthly  experience  He  learned  obedience 
and  overcame  His  temptation  (Heb.  4:14-16),  and  is  now  the  personal 
living  pledge  that  God  will  be  true  to  the  new  covenant  and  forgive  sins 
(Heb.  7:22;  12:23).  Once  on  earth,  now  alive  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
He  guarantees  to  His  brethren  the  reality  of  the  unseen  Avorld  (Heb. 
6: 19,  20). 

2.  In  I  Peter  2:4,  5,  Jesus  Christ  is  referred  to  as  the  living  corner- 
stone to  whom  believers  come  to  form  with  Him  a  new  temple  of  hu- 
manity, in  which  a  true  service  will  be  offered  to  God  by  a  universal 
priesthood  of  believers.  He  also  engages  the  affection  of  those  who  had 
once  been  heathen  and  who  had  never  seen  Him  (i  Peter  1:8).  Yet  in 
this  epistle  also  the  human  life  of  Jesus  on  earth  is  made  the  example 
for  the  Christians  who  have  to  endure  sufferings  in  His  name  (2:21; 
4: 13,  14),  so  that  the  object  of  their  love  is  a  living  Person  with  a  very 
real  human  experience  on  earth,  which  gives  body  and  meaning  to  His 
present  heavenly  existence.  Even  in  James,  the  Christian  is  exhorted 
to  hold  to  the  faith  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  of  Glory,  i.  c, 
One  who  by  His  resurrection  is  now  enthroned  in  glorj'  (James  2:1). 

3.  The  great  error  which  the  author  of  First  John  wishes  to  refute  is 
the  teaching  of  the  Gnostics,  that  Jesus  received  the  Holy  Spirit  at  His 
baptism  and  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Christ  left  Him  before  His  passion. 
With  the  utmost  earnestness  he  repudiates  the  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ 
the  now  living  Person  did  not  live  and  suffer  in  a  true  human  life  on 
earth  (i  John  2:22;  4:2,  3 ;  5  :6).  Finally,  at  the  opening  of  the  epistles 
to  the  seven  churches  there  stands  the  figure  of  Him  who  guards  the  life 
of  the  brotherhood,  one  invested  with  all  the  dignity  of  a  perfect  human 
life  exalted  through  death  to  a  throne  of  eternal  power  (Rev.  i  :i7,  18). 


105 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   15:    The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Third  Day:     Jesus  Lives  in  the  Hearts  of  His  Followers 
Through  the  Holy  Spirit 


1.  That  early  Church  did  not  think  of  Jesus  as  a  prophet  who  was 
dead,  such  as  Elijah  or  John  the  Baptist.  In  some  sense  it  might  be  said 
that  they  lived  on  in  the  lives  of  their  followers.  But  this  was  not  the 
sense  in  which  the  Christians  interpreted  the  living  Christ.  Jesus  was 
not  ranked  even  with  the  greatest  of  the  prophets.  All  they  were  dead. 
There  was  no  longer  any  new  thought,  or  quickening  personal  power 
from  them.  That  indefinable  influence  and  essence  which  we  call  per- 
sonality is  limited  in  human  beings  by  death.  Take  away  the  living 
presence  and  the  silent  pitiless  years  soon  do  their  work.  Unless  we 
refresh  our  affection  with  the  kindling  eye,  and  hear  the  ringing  echo  of 
one  word  more,  and  have  the  soliloquy  of  our  meditation  on  our  friend's 
goodness  invaded  by  a  throbbing  ray  of  love  from  the  living  heart,  soon 
his  portrait  in  our  memory  loses  its  color,  that  gallery  so  full,  alas,  of 
ghostly  forms,  whose  sight  touches  the  fountain  of  tears  as  they  call 
up  "the  old,  unhappy,  far-off  things  and  days  of  long  ago." 

2.  But  it  was  not  so  with  Christ.  He  was  alive  (Acts  16:7).  Just 
as  I  become  a  reproduction  of  the  character  of  my  stronger  and  nobler 
friend  who  lives  by  my  side,  those  believers  felt  that  their  hearts  were 
plastic  to  the  living  Spirit  of  Christ,  which  was  shaping  their  souls  into 
His  likeness  (Acts  5:9;  7:55,  59).  In  the  classic  exposition  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  (John  16:8-13)  we  are  told  of  a  living  per- 
sonal Spirit  reproducing  the  life  of  Christ  in  His  followers,  standing 
by  their  side  to  help  them  in  time  of  trouble,  supplementing  His  teaching 
with  truth  which  at  the  time  when  Jesus  spoke  was  beyond  their  grasp ; 
in  fact,  a  living  fountain  in  which  the  mind  of  their  Lord  was  made 
known  to  them.  This  Spirit  was  to  bridge  the  chasm  which  in  all  other 
lives  divides  the  earth  from  the  unseen  world,  and  enabled  them  to 
recognize  in  the  exalted  Christ  Him  whom  they  had  known  in  Galilee 
as  the  Son  of  Man  (John  20:21-23). 

3.  In  Paul's  epistles  also  the  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ  (2  Cor.  3 : 
17),  and  by  the  personal  influence  of  this  Spirit  the  believer  is  trans- 
formed into  the  image  of  Christ  (2  Cor.  3:18).  But  this  is  also  the 
Spirit  of  God  (Rom.  8:9-11,  14-17;  i  Cor.  3:16).  In  other  places  this 
Spirit  is  associated  with  Father  and  Son  (2  Cor.  13:14;  Eph.  4:4-6; 
I  Cor.  12:4-6).  Again  the  Spirit  seems  to  have  a  function  of  its  own 
(Rom.  8:9,  26;  I  Cor.  12:11;  Gal.  4:6).  So  it  would  appear  that  just 
as  Jesus  revealed  the  Father  when  on  earth,  by  means  of  the  Spirit  which 
was  the  essence  of  His  person,  so  the  same  Spirit  of  Christ  is  a  present 
personal  power  revealing  God  to  the  believer. 


106 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   15:    The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Fourth  Day:    Jesus  Christ  the  Eternal  Son  of  God 

1.  _  (2)  Jesus  Christ  was  for  the  Apostolic  Church  the  Son  of  God. 
Nor  is  this  to  be  taken  in  a  general  sense  of  being  especially  devoted  to 
God's  will,  nor  as  similar  to  God  in  character.  All  the  resources  of  lan- 
guage are  exhausted  to  express  a  thought  which  perhaps  transcends 
definition.  They  believed  that  Jesus  came  from  a  home  where  He  had 
lived  an  eternal  existence  with  His  Father  (Phil.  2:6;  2  Cor.  8:9; 
Eph.  1 : 4 ;  I  Peter  i :  20 ;  Heb.  1:2;  13:8;  i  John  4:9).  He  was  also  the 
agent  of  His  Father  in  the  creation  of  the  world  (Col.  i :  16;  Heb.  1:2; 
John  1 :3,  4).  We  must  not  forget  that  the  world  of  which  they  thought 
was  the  world  of  men,  a  series  of  ages  in  which  humanity  was  woven 
into  one  interrelated  whole.  The  solidarity  of  the  race  constituted  the 
world.  The  external  world  of  matter  only  had  importance  in  so  far  as 
it  was  the  sphere  in  which  men  lived.  The  Christians  believed  that  God 
was  guiding  all  things  towards  a  glorious  consummation  of  His  King- 
dom. Jesus  Christ  is  His  Vicegerent  in  the  conduct  of  the  Kingdom  to 
its  issue.  Therefore  He  must  have  presided  over  it  and  been  master  of 
the  world  from  the  very  beginning,  for  Jesus  Christ  has  been  the  same 
Eternal  Person  from  the  commencement  of  time  (John  1:4,  9). 

2.  He  also  was  in  the  history  of  Israel  directing  it  by  His  Spirit 
(John  i:ii;  Heb.  3:6;  10:15;  i  Peter  i:ii;  Acts  7:51,  52).  A  pre- 
existent  Person,  He  is  the  full  Revealer  of  the  nature  of  God.  The  Son 
reveals  the  Father.  He  is  the  image  of  God  otherwise  invisible  to  us 
(Col.  1:15;  2  Cor.  4:4-6),  so  that  as  we  look  upon  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ  we  behold  there  the  glory  of  the  true  God  who  is  Light.  The 
great  passage,  Phil.  2:6-11,  brings  out  the  same  truth.  Jesus  indeed 
laid  aside  the  exercise  of  His  external  divine  prerogatives  which  He 
shared  with  His  Father  in  the  heavenly  world,  but  His  essential  charac- 
ter was  and  remained  even  on  earth  the  same  as  that  of  God.  In  Heb. 
1:3a  similar  conception  is  expressed  under  the  figure  of  a  ray  of 
light.  The  light  of  the  Father's  nature  becomes  as  it  were  a  nucleus  of 
light  in  Jesus  Christ,  whose  personality  wears  the  stamp  of  essential 
deity.    The  same  thought  is  involved  in  i  John  1:1;  4 :  12 ;  5  :  12. 

3.  Such  passages  show  that  the  leading  epistles  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment attribute  to  Jesus  Christ  conceptions  which  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  the  prerogatives  of  Jehovah  alone.  According  to  the  Old 
Testament  God  created  the  world  and  guides  its  history,  and  He  sent 
His  Word  and  Spirit  to  the  prophets.  These  powers  are  all  ascribed 
in  the  New  Testament  to  Jesus  Christ.  In  Him  the  fullness  of  the 
Godhead  resides  bodily  (Col.  2:9).  They  worship  Jesus  and  pray 
to  Him  (i  Cor.  1:2),  they  come  to  the  Father  through  Him.  The 
depths  of  the  Father's  grace  and  love  are  opened  to  the  light  in  Jesus 
(2  Cor.  4:6:  John  1:14,  16,  18).  Only  through  Him  has  the  Father 
held  contact  with  the  universe  of  men  in  the  past,  only  through  Him  is 
He  now  in  the  world  reconciling  it  to  Himself  (2  Cor.  5:19),  and  so 
through  Him  alone  shall  we  forever  approach  the  Father  (Heb.  7: 
24-26). 

107 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   15:     The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Fifth  Day  :     Jesus  Christ  the  Redeemer  from  Sin  :   Paul 
AND  Hebrews 


I-  (3)  Jesus  Christ  is  also  the  Redeemer  from  sin.  In  the  earlier 
days  the  attempt  was  made  to  fit  His  death  into  the  teaching  of  the  Old 
Testament  (Acts  3:18,  19),  and  Paul  tells  us  that  it  was  one  of  the 
primary  elements  of  the  gospel  (i  Cor.  15:3)  that  the  death  of  Christ 
had  procured  forgiveness  of  sins.  The  death  of  Christ  was  the  theme 
of  his  preaching  to  the  Corinthians  and  Galatians  (i  Cor.  1:23;  Gal.  3: 
i).  Instead  of  being  a  source  of  shame  (Gal.  3:13)  the  death  of  Jesus 
Christ  on  the  cross  is  to  the  Christian  the  power  of  God  (i  Cor.  i : 
18).    It  furnishes  a  motive  of  supreme  efficacy. 

2.  It  is  a  sign  of  God  the  Father's  transcendent  love  (Rom.  8:32; 
2  Cor.  5  :  20) ,  and  also  of  that  of  Christ  the  Son  (2  Cor.  5  :  14,  15  ;  Gal.  2 : 
20).  It  is  also  the  means  of  reconciling  the  love  and  justice  of  God  so 
that  He  may  be  ^rue  to  His  own  nature  in  forgiving  sins  (Rom.  3:26), 
for  through  His  loving  self-sacrifice  Christ  has  removed  the  curse  of  the 
law  (Gal.  3 :  13).  If  it  were  not  for  Jesus  Christ's  death  the  whole  world 
would  be  burdened  with  a  load  of  sin  from  which  there  would  be  no 
escape  (Gal.  3:22).  But  all  this  is  taken  away  (Col.  2:13,  14).  This 
divine  reconciliation  (2  Cor.  5:18-21)  is  of  such  universal  significance 
that  it  was  from  the  beginning  an  integral  part  of  the  Father's  purpose 
of  love  toward  the  world  (Eph.  1:6,  7).  Paul's  writings  are  saturated 
with  the  thought  of  the  redemptive  efficacy  of  Christ's  death. 

3.  The  theme  is  hardly  less  prominent  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
The  eternal  Son  of  God  is  now  seated  in  majesty  after  having  made  a 
sufficient  offering  to  remove  sin  and  give  man  access  to  God  as  a  true 
worshiper  (Heb.  1:4).  He  is  the  great  High  Priest  who  having  made 
the  sacrifice  with  His  own  blood  is  now  ushering  His  brethren  into  the 
holy  of  holies.  It  is  because  He  once  for  all  offered  Himself  that  no 
more  sacrifices  for  sin  are  necessary  (Heb.  9:26,  28;  10:10,  12).  That 
offering  gets  its  value  because  it  was  made  in  a  spirit  of  absolute  obe- 
dience to  His  Father's  will.  Thus  Jesus  Christ  sacrificed  Himself,  an 
eternal  Spirit  without  blemish,  and  thereby  men  can  have  their  guilt  re- 
moved and  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace  (Heb.  9:14;  10:9,  10, 
19-22). 


108 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   15:     The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Sixth  Day:     The  Gospel  of  the  Cross 

1.  Equally  vital  to  the  thought  of  Peter  is  the  function  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  suffering  servant  of  Jehovah,  who  by  His  death  removed 
the  guilt  and  power  of  sin  (2:21;  3:18),  by  His  blood  has  consecrated 
the  believers  as  the  new  Israel  of  God  (i  Peter  i  :2)  for  He  is  the  true 
sacrifice  (3:18,  19).  A  similar  conception  occurs  in  Acts  20:28.  The 
Lamb  that  was  slain  receives  in  Rev.  5:8-10  the  homage  of  the  new 
Israel  purchased  by  His  blood  (cf.  Rev.  1:5,  6),  in  which  all  sins  have 
been  washed  away  (7:14),  and  through  which  the  adversary  has  been 
overcome  (12:11).  This  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  is  no  chance  event,  but 
is  a  part  of  the  eternal  purpose  of  God  (Rev.  13:8). 

In  opposition  to  men  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  antichrist  who  deny 
that  there  is  sin,  and  consequently  deny  also  that  Christ  suffered  when 
Jesus  died,  the  atoning  death  of  Jesus  is  set  forth  in  First  John  as  essen- 
tial to  the  truth  of  God  (i  John  5:4-6),  and  as  the  only  remedy  for  sin 
(i  John  1:7;  2:2;  4: 10). 

2.  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  the  cross.  It  is  the  religion  of  sacri- 
fice embodied  in  the  service  of  the  Son  of  Man,  who  through  His  death 
has  swept  away  all  sacrifices.  Those  early  believers  regarded  the  life  of 
Christ,  but  especially  His  death,  as  an  almost  incredible  proof  of  the  love 
of  God  (John  3:16).  Why  should  such  an  One  as  Jesus  Christ  have 
left  His  home  to  come  down  and  engage  in  the  awful  wrestle  with  sin, 
and  deliver  sinful  men  from  their  bondage  to  fear  of  death,  the  curse  of 
sin?  (Heb.  2:14,  15.)  The  death  of  Christ  was  not  a  sacrifice  to  cir- 
cumstance. The  purer  the  human  Jesus  was  felt  by  them  to  be,  the  more 
exalted  the  throne  to  which  the  Christ  had  risen,  the  more  acute  be- 
came to  them  the  question.  Why  did  He  die?  It  was  not  for  His  own 
sin.  It  was  only  for  theirs,  nay,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  (i  John 
2:2).  That  the  Holy  Christ  should  die  was  to  be  explained  only  as  the 
supremest  act  of  vicarious  love.  His  personal  disciples  never  forgot  the 
agony  of  His  spotless  soul  as  they  saw  it  on  the  cross,  or  in  Gethsemane, 
or  even  when  He  was  subjected  during  His  Galilean  ministry  to  the  con- 
tradiction of  sinners.  The  death  of  Jesus  meant  that  the  love  of  Father 
and  Son  toward  sinful  men  was  so  infinite  that  they  would  not  leave 
men  to  their  own  ruin,  but  Christ  Himself  took  upon  Him  the  awful 
task  of  rendering  null  and  void  the  claims  of  sin  upon  man  (Heb.  9:26). 

3.  Further,  His  death  stood  forth  as  the  great  fact  in  history  which 
proves  forever  that  God  is  a  righteous  God,  of  whose  nature  sin  is  the 
direct  negation  (Rom.  3:25,  26).  When  He  pardons  sin  He  is  not  in- 
different to  it.  Only  by  the  utmost  sacrifice  He  could  make  is  it  possi- 
ble for  Him  to  remain  true  to  His  own  nature  and  yet  show  favor  to 
sinful  men.  The  death  of  Christ  is  the  proof  that  God  is  a  Holy  God 
who  cannot  disregard  the  moral  order  of  His  universe.  He  cannot  com- 
pel the  unwilling  sinner,  one  who  loves  his  sin,  to  accept  pardon,  for  that 
would  be  immoral ;  but  in  giving  Christ  to  die  He  has  furnished  sinners 
with  the  most  powerful  motive  for  accepting  the  pardon  of  a  self-con- 
sistent Holy  Father. 

109 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   15:    The  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Apostles 


Seventh  Day  :     Jesus  Christ  the  Judge  of  The  World  and 
consummator  of  the  kingdom  of  god 


1.  Jesus  Christ  was  believed  to  be  the  Judge  of  all.  This  was  a  part 
of  the  earliest  gospel  (Mark  8:38),  and  the  return  of  Jesus  was 
preached  by  Peter  during  the  opening  days  of  the  Church's  life  (Acts 
3:20,  21).  In  Acts  10:42  He  is  proclaimed  as  the  Judge  of  quick  and 
dead.  This  idea  is  expressed  in  the  earliest  letter  of  Paul  (i  Thess.  4: 
16,  17)  in  language  similar  to  that  of  the  gospels,  and  in  2  Cor.  5 :  10 
there  might  almost  be  a  reminiscence  of  Matt.  25:31-46.  The  final  stage 
of  the  rule  of  Christ  when  He  shall  have  completed  the  work  given  Him 
by  His  Father  to  do  is  described  in  i  Cor.  15:25,  28.  Then  shall  the  har- 
vest of  the  kingdom  of  which  the  risen  Christ  is  the  first-fruits  be 
gathered  in  (i  Cor.  15:23). 

2.  This  thought  of  the  return  of  Jesus  to  consummate  His  work 
runs  through  the  other  epistles  (Heb.  9:27,  28;  10:37).  It  is  contem- 
plated in  First  Peter  with  joy  (i  Peter  1:13),  though  it  will  also  bring 
judgment  to  many  (4:5,  7,  17).  Jude  regards  it  as  a  disclosure  of  di- 
vine mercy  (21), and  Second  Peter  as  the  signal  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
present  system,  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophetic  day  of  the  Lord  (2  Peter 
3:10-13)  ;  and  John  as  the  manifestation  of  glory  to  which  the  children 
of  God  shall  be  conformed  (i  John  3:2).  The  Book  of  Revelation  is 
a  paean  in  honor  of  the  slain  Lamb,  who  is  victorious  over  all  His  ene- 
mies, who  alone  can  open  the  book  of  the  future  (5:1-14),  and  ushers 
the  Church  of  the  Redeemed  into  the  new  Jerusalem. 

3.  What  a  stupendous  Person  Jesus  Christ  was  in  the  mind  of  the 
early  Christians.  He  dominated  not  only  their  own  life,  but  all  exist- 
ence. This  present  was  to  them  only  a  perishing  world,  at  its  best  of 
small  value.  It  shrank  into  insignificance  before  the  glory  of  Christ  and 
the  realm  of  the  new  Zion  into  which  He  was  about  to  lead  them.  But 
just  because  Christ  has  snatched  the  believer  from  the  drift  of  the  pres- 
ent evil  age  (Gal.  1:4),  He  has  appointed  him  work  to  do  in  the  short 
time  that  still  remains.  Something  is  left  undone  by  Christ  for  His 
fellow-worker  to  complete,  even  to  sharing  in  His  sufferings,  so  that  he 
may  contribute  to  the  establishing  on  earth  of  the  eternal  Kingdom  of 
God  (i  Cor.  3:10-15;  Col.  1:24). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 6:    The  Manifold  Gospel 


First  Day:     The  Pauline  Type 


1.  The  Person  of  Christ  appealed  in  dififerent  ways  to  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament.  Men  of  most  diverse  temperaments  acknowledged 
His  mastery,  having  found  in  His  many-sided  character  that  aspect  of 
perfection  which  completed  their  several  natural  endowments.  "The 
mind"  of  Christ  had  a  broad  sympathy  which  fitted  into  each  life  and 
equipped  it  for  its  peculiar  accomplishment.  So  we  have  a  variety  of 
types  in  the  New  Testament.  We  must  not  fall  into  the  mistake  of  read- 
ing all  the  books  in  the  light  of  the  Pauline  epistles.  Each  writer  saw 
Jesus  Christ  from  his  own  angle  of  vision,  and  wrote  out  of  the  pro- 
found conviction  that  what  he  saw  of  Him  would  quicken  and  fortify 
others.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  strong  religious  experience  ac- 
counts for  the  New  Testament 

2.  But  unquestionably  the  Pauline  conception  of  the  gospel  has  had 
immense  influence  on  Western  Christianity.  Paul  seems  to  have  left  a 
larger  impression  on  early  Christendom  than  any  other  individual,  and 
he  claims  to  have  received  his  gospel  direct  from  Christ  without  human 
mediation  of  any  kind  (Gal.  i :  i,  ii,  12,  16).  One  reason  of  his  great 
power  is  to  be  found  in  his  training.  While  perhaps  surpassed  in  cul- 
ture by  the  author  of  Hebrews,  he  was  superior  to  all  in  his  liberality 
of  spirit  and  breadth  of  view.  No  student  can  afiford  to  neglect  to  pon- 
der carefully  the  gospel  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  students  of  his  day. 
He  had  an  absorbing  interest  in  winning  the  empire  of  which  he  was 
a  citizen  to  loyalty  to  Christ.  And  he  understood  the  Jewish  system  as 
few  others  did  (Gal.  1:14;  Phil.  3:3-6). 

3.  But  his  own  genius  and  temper  were  a  superb  instrument  for  the 
use  made  of  them  by  the  Spirit  of  the  risen  Christ.  He  was  essen- 
tially a  seeker  for  righteousness  (Phil.  3:6,  9).  And  his  will  was  under 
the  control  of  an  intellect  peculiarly  sincere,  rigorous  and  penetrating. 
While  he  was  a  Pharisee  he  lived  a  most  consistent  life  as  the  product 
of  that  system,  but  he  never  upbraids  himself  with  the  sins  of  his  class, 
their  self-seeking  and  their  hypocrisy.  He  was  a  strong,  masterful  man 
who  had  no  useless  ideas  in  his  mind,  but  wrought  his  convictions  into 
life.  Since  the  law  was  a  divine  system  there  must  be  no  trifling  with  it. 
The  will  of  God  is  final.  So  Saul  the  Pharisee  was  a  persecutor  of  no 
ordinary  violence  (Gal.  1:13). 


Ill 


Tee  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 6:    The  Manifold  Gospel 


Second  Day  :     The  Pauline  Conception  of  Christ 


1.  Saul  discovered  in  the  Christian  communities  revolution  at  work 
like  a  heady  wine,  and  it  was  bursting  the  old  bottles.  So  he  who  can 
do  nothing  by  halves  grows  ruthless  and  continues  so  till  the  moment 
when  the  Son  of  God  appears  to  him.  Then  he  is  shattered,  and  he  re- 
quires some  years  of  retirement  to  adjust  himself  to  his  new  conditions. 
But  in  converting  a  man  God  does  not  remake  his  inborn  disposition 
and  type  of  thought  and  activity.  He  simply  turns  the  old  nature  with 
its  capacities  towards  new  ideals.  So  Paul  is  like  Saul  in  continuing  to 
live  for  righteousness,  and  in  putting  into  practice  what  he  knows  to  be 
the  will  of  God. 

2.  Christ  now  takes  the  place  of  the  law.  He  is  Himself  the  will  of 
God  summing  up  all  the  divine  nature  (Rom.  10:4).  Love  to  a  person 
takes  the  place  of  obedience  to  the  letter  of  a  precept,  and  this  shows 
itself  in  a  life  of  love  to  others  (Rom.  13:10;  Gal.  5:14).  Christ  is  the 
personal  source  of  righteousness,  becoming  a  fountain  of  divine  grace 
to  the  persecutor  who  lives  as  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus.  His  re- 
ligion and  theology  lie  in  germ  in  this  miracle  of  love.  What  an  ir- 
reparable blunder  was  made  by  the  representatives  of  the  law  when 
they  put  to  death  the  Messiah  of  Israel.  The  vision  of  the  risen  Christ 
utterly  discredited  that  whole  system  of  righteousness,  and  now  the 
great  alternative  is  presented,  either  the  law  or  grace  (Gal.  2:21).  Two 
facts,  the  cross  and  the  resurrection,  contain  the  sum  of  his  gospel,  for 
thereby  a  new  order  of  grace  has  been  established.  Preaching  out  of  his 
own  experience  he  finds  his  theme  in  the  risen  Christ  who  has  trans- 
muted the  curse  of  the  cross  into  an  instrument  of  glory.  With  Him  he 
also  is  dead  to  the  old  and  alive  to  the  new  (Gal.  6: 14,  15). 

3.  The  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  did  not  fail  to  expand  his  gospel  as 
experience  presented  new  problems  to  be  solved  by  the  trained  intellect 
of  the  thinker,  the  religious  ideals  of  the  seer,  or  the  dauntless  hope  of 
the  statesman-missionary.  Christ  still  is  the  sum  of  all  things.  As 
Paul's  view  of  the  world  and  the  Church  widens  so  does  his  conception 
of  Christ  become  exalted.  He  is  seen  to  be  the  Crown  of  the  universe, 
the  Head  of  the  Church,  the  full  expression  of  the  divine  nature  (Eph. 
1:10;  Col.  1:18,  19).  The  network  of  congregations  throughout  the 
Roman  Empire  is  the  visible  expression  of  the  body  of  the  Lord.  By 
faith  in  and  love  to  Him  each  believer  is  united  to  Jesus  Christ  the 
Head,  and  thus  becomes  a  part  of  the  body,  living  a  new  life  of  right- 
eousness through  His  Spirit. 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 6:     The  Manifold  Gospel 


Third  Day  :     The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 

1.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  author  of  the  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews was  much  influenced  by  the  circle  of  Pauline  ideas,  but  no  less 
certainly  does  he  present  a  type  of  religious  thought  which  is  dis- 
tinctively his  own.  Paul  regards  the  Mosaic  law  as  a  system  of  right- 
eousness. Hebrews  treats  it  as  ritual  ordinance.  If  Paul  is  the  states- 
man whose  aim  is  to  spread  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  the  living  Source 
of  true  righteousness,  the  author  of  this  epistle  is  a  devotional  spirit 
whose  religion  finds  its  fullest  expression  in  worship. 

2.  The  aim  of  Hebrews  is  to  prove  that  Christianity  is  the  perfect 
religion  because  it  gives  complete  access  to  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
God  in  fellowship  with  whom  eternal  life  consists.  But  a  great  contrast 
runs  through  the  epistle.  There  are  two  worlds,  that  where  God  dwells, 
the  pure  heavenly  temple,  the  realm  of  the  permanent  and  the  perfect ; 
and  the  present  world  of  the  seen,  smitten  with  sin,  a  mere  shadow  cast 
from  the  realities  of  the  world  of  light,  shifting  "sands  marbled  with 
moon  and  cloud"  (Heb.  4:9;  10:1;  12:22,  27,  28).  But  the  present  is 
most  attractive  to  many  of  the  author's  readers.  Their  faith  in  the  worth 
of  the  unseen  is  not  strong  enough  and  the  anchor  of  their  hope  is 
dragging  (Heb.  3:12;  6:3-12,  18,  19). 

3.  The  argument  proceeds  from  certain  assumptions  accepted  by  his 
readers — that  Jesus  lived  a  life  of  human  sympathy  on  earth  (Heb.  2:  i, 
13-18),  and  was  proved  to  be  the  Messiah  (1:1-4;  3-^),  and  that  after 
their  baptism  they  had  received  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (6:4,  5).  Now 
what  is  involved  in  these  facts?  First,  that  Jesus  who  lived  a  life  on 
earth  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities  has  bridged  the  two 
worlds  by  a  new  and  living  way  as  the  Captain  of  the  faithful  (Heb.  2: 
10;  10:20;  12: 1,  2). 

Secondly,  His  sacrifice  puts  an  end  to  all  other  sacrifices,  because  of 
the  Person  who  oflFered  it — the  eternal  Son — and  the  spirit  in  which  it 
was  offered — perfect  obedience  to  His  Father's  will  (Heb.  1:2,  3;  9:14; 
10:5-14).  Finally,  as  the  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest  (the  great 
Intercessor)  He  brings  His  brethren  within  the  range  of  God's  pardon- 
ing influence  and  sanctifies  them  as  true  worshipers  (10:10,  14,  22). 
Thus  they  become  heirs  of  the  unseen  world  (2:5-9),  citizens  of  the  true 
Zion  (12:22).  Meanwhile  they  live  here  in  faith,  which  is  itself  a  proof 
of  the  reality  of  the  heavenly  world  (11  :i),  and  steady  themselves  on 
the  promises  of  God  and  their  hope  (6:17-20).  They  have  further  as- 
surance in  the  life  of  Jesus  on  earth  who  is  the  personal  Guarantee  of 
the  covenant  (7:22),  and  in  their  foretaste  of  powers  of  the  world  to 
come  (2:4;  6:4,  s). 


113 


The  Tkuth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 6:     The  Manifold  Gospel 


Fourth  Day  :     First  Peter  and  James 

1.  The  First  Epistle  of  Peter  has  affinities  with  the  Pauline  concep- 
tions and  those  of  Hebrews,  though  the  author  does  not  move  in  the 
lofty  regions  of  spiritual  thought  which  those  writers  and  the  author 
of  the  fourth  gospel  enjoy  to  traverse.  Peter  may  be  called  the  prophet 
of  the  new  Israel,  a  man  with  a  frank  nature,  open  to  every  generous 
impulse,  and  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  His  epistle  has  reminiscences 
of  the  human  life  of  Christ,  a  memory  of  surpassing  loveliness,  whose 
moral  beauty  has  traced  on  every  one  who  saw  Him  an  ineffaceable  im- 
pression of  holiness  (i  Peter  1:13-19;  2:21-25).  Peter  thinks  of  Jesus 
Christ  primarily  as  the  exalted  Messiah,  whose  resurrection  has  made 
divine  salvation  and  grace  effective,  and  the  Christian's  hope  secure  (i: 
3-9)-  Jesus  introduces  the  believer  to  God,  in  whose  presence  he  hence- 
forth abides  (2:9,  10,  25).  Peter  speaks  like  an  Old  Testament  prophet 
who  has  drunk  deeply  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  God  is  the  faithful 
Creator  but  also  the  Holy  Father  of  the  New  Israel  (i :  17;  4: 19).  Holi- 
ness is  as  essential  to  the  God  of  Peter  as  to  the  Jehovah  of  Isaiah 
(Isa.  6).  Steeped  in  prophetic  thought  Peter  teaches  that  the  Church  is 
the  new  Israel,  which  has  been  delivered  out  of  the  bondage  of  its 
Egypt  by  the  sacrifice  of  its  paschal  Lamb  (i:  18,19).  But  the  exalted 
Messiah  was  also  the  Servant  of  the  Lord  whose  face  was  marred  by 
awful  blows,  albeit  with  healing  for  those  who  follow  Him  (2:21-24)  '■> 
and  that  perfect  endurance  becomes  the  example  for  every  Christian  un- 
der suffering.  Thus  the  human  life  of  Jesus  meant  more  for  Peter  than 
it  did  for  Paul,  or  even  for  the  author  of  Hebrews. 

2.  The  epistle  of  James  is  the  least  distinctly  evangelical  of  all  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament,  the  gospel  having  come  to  its  author  as 
the  fulfilling  of  the  old  covenant  very  much  in  the  sense  of  Matt.  5 :  17 — 
6: 18.  He  seems  to  have  passed  from  the  old  life  in  Judaism  to  the  life 
in  the  new  Israel  without  any  violent  rupture.  The  law  of  Christ  is 
the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  but  it  demands  serious  moral  effort  for  its 
fulfillment  (1:25;  2:8,  10,  12,  14).  In  opposition  to  the  old  practical 
Pharisaism  which  deemed  outward  service  to  code  morality  sufficient, 
provided  there  was  assent  to  certain  religious  propositions,  James  like 
his  Master  demands  living  faith  (2 :  14-26)  which  shows  itself  in  works. 
"Pure  religion,"  i.  e.,  "truest  ritual  service,"  is  not  religious  formalism, 
but  a  service  of  practical  love  (1:27).  This  is  the  faith  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  who  is  risen  to  glory,  and  who  will  soon  return  to  right  all 
wrongs  (2:1 ;  5:7,  8).  This  life  of  true  faith  is  begotten  by  the  will  of 
God  through  the  preaching  of  the  word  of  truth  (1:18),  and  its  es- 
sence is  heavenly  wisdom  (3:13-18). 


114 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study  1 6:    The  Manifold  Gospel 


Fifth  Day:     Mark,  Matthew  and  Luke 


1.  Turning  to  the  synoptic  gospels  we  discover  that  in  spite  of  a  great 
deal  of  common  material  each  presents  one  aspect  of  the  life  of  Christ 
for  different  readers.  Mark  is  the  earliest  of  the  three.  It  opens 
abruptly,  and  the  close  is  lost,  but  there  is  no  mistaking  its  purpose. 
Jesus  the  strong  Son  of  God  moves  in  mature  manhood  across  the  few 
months  of  His  public  earthly  life,  leaving  an  enduring  impression  of  His 
power.  Brief,  vivid,  picturesque,  the  story  shows  a  Person  in  whom 
divine  majesty  is  combined  with  human  compassion  commingled  at  times 
with  scorn  or  indignation  (3:1-5;  4:35-41).  The  effect  is  produced  not 
by  what  we  hear  Jesus  say,  but  by  what  we  see  Him  do.  This  was  the 
gospel  preached  to  the  ordinary  man  of  the  Roman  world,  to  whom  it 
offered  a  new  King  and  a  new  kingdom.  The  strong,  pitiful,  dominant 
Son  of  Man,  so  human  in  His  tenderness,  so  divine  in  His  strength, 
wears  in  the  gospel  of  Mark  "the  mien  and  countenance  of  authority." 

2.  Matthew's  readers  are  evidently  Jewish  Christians  of  the  Western 
Dispersion  who  are  in  a  difficult  environment.  They  seem  to  be  sub- 
jected to  the  taunts  of  Jews  and  possibly  of  Gentiles  that  Jesus  is  a 
discredited  Messiah.  So  Matthew  presents  Jesus  as  the  true  Messiah  of 
prophecy.  He  roams  through  the  Old  Testament,  finding  passage  after 
passage  which  foretells  the  coming  Kingdom  of  God  and  its  Lord,  and 
gets  its  fulfillment  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  royal  Messiah  (Matt,  i : 
20-25,  2:2)  in  His  birth,  His  opening  ministry,  His  legislation  (Matt. 
5-7),  His  claim.  Out  of  the  remnant  of  old  Israel  He  forms  the  new 
Israel,  His  Church  (Matt.  16: 18).  This  is  a  conception  which  along  with 
that  of  the  suffering  Servant,  also  fulfilled  by  Jesus  in  His  death,  forms 
the  distinctive  contribution  of  Isaiah  to  the  prophetic  thought  (Isa.  10: 
20-22:  11:1-9).  Jesus  is  thus  the  true  Messiah,  and  His  followers  the 
true  Israel,  heirs  to  the  promises  of  Jehovah. 

3.  Luke  writes  for  Gentiles.  A  historian  he  traces  in  the  gospel  the 
origins  of  Jesus,  His  home.  His  growth,  His  manhood.  As  Jesus  is 
made  known  His  perfect  human  nature  discloses  all  that  it  is  possible 
for  mortal  man  to  conceive  of  God.  He  is  the  Son  of  God  just  because 
He  is  the  Flower  of  humanity.  "Heaven  stoops  to  earth,  earth  rises  to 
heaven."  Jesus  is  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  of  the  Gentile,  the  prodigal, 
the  sinner.  No  gospel  is  so  full  of  sympathy  for  the  poor,  the  distressed, 
the  broken  in  mind  and  body.  In  the  Acts  the  same  author  sets  forth 
Jesus  continuing  in  His  Spirit  as  the  risen  Lord  to  do  among  His 
disciples  the  work  which  He  had  begun  on  earth.  The  kingdom  ex- 
tends over  the  civilized  world  under  His  guidance  (Acts  1:8). 


"5 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   1 6:    The  Manifold  Gospel 


Sixth  Day:     The  Johannine  Conception  of  the  Gospel 

1.  The  Johannine  literature  had  its  home  in  Asia  Minor,  where  new 
problems  faced  Christianity.  Men  were  denying  that  Christ  had  come  in 
the  flesh,  claiming  that  He  was  little  more  than  an  angelic  spirit  who  had 
descended  upon  Jesus  at  the  baptism  and  had  left  Him  before  the 
crucifixion.  They  ignored  the  necessity  of  redemption  from  sin,  and  in- 
terpreted the  resurrection  as  a  purely  spiritual  or  intellectual  experience. 
Some  desired  to  live  a  free  life  of  the  Spirit  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
own  ecstatic  experiences,  and  did  not  see  any  need  for  going  back  to  the 
historic  Jesus.  Others  again  echoed  the  common  objection  of  Jew  and 
Gentile,  that  Jesus  could  not  have  been  the  Messiah,  or  His  own  people 
would  have  recognized  Him  (i  John  i:8-io;  4:1-3;  John  16:13-15;  5: 
28,  29;  1 :  11-13)- 

2.  A  gospel  was  needed  for  such  an  environment.  The  gospel  and 
epistles  profess  to  be  a  record  of  personal  experience  (John  i :  14;  i  John 
1:1).  The  disciple  had  discovered  that  Jesus  was  nothing  less  than  the 
eternal  Son  of  God  the  Father,  and  from  Him  he  had  got  life  (John 
20:31).  That  earthly  life  unfolded  a  nature  one  with  the  Father  in  life 
(5:26),  thought  (5:19),  will  (4:34),  power  (10:28-30),  love  (17:24). 
What  others  sought  concerning  the  origin  and  maintenance  of  the  world 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos  or  divine  reason,  this  writer  found  in  a 
Person.  He  solved  for  him  all  the  riddles  of  life,  for  as  the  Word  of 
God  Incarnate  He  uttered  God's  will  to  the  world,  and  accounted  for  its 
source  and  issue  in  God's  eternal  love  (John  i :  1-4,  14,  18;  i  John  1:1). 
In  Jesus  Christ  we  see  the  Father's  nature.  John  thus  starts  with  the 
historic  Jesus.  All  the  growing  knowledge  that  comes  through  the 
Spirit  of  God  will  simply  be  an  expansion  of  the  divine  mind  that  His 
disciples  found  in  Him  (John  16:13-15).  He  also  as  the  propitiation 
for  sin  is  proof  to  the  world  of  the  Father's  love  (John  1:29;  3:16; 
I  John  2:2;  4: 10;  5:6). 

3.  The  saving  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  as  Son  of  God  which  brings 
life  is  no  mere  intellectual  assent,  but  is  based  on  love.  Christ  is  a  foun- 
tain of  divine  love,  welling  up  from  the  Father's  own  heart,  and  only 
he  whose  nature  responds  to  this  divine  love  of  which  His  life  on  earth 
was  the  incarnation,  can  really  believe  on  Him  as  the  Son  of  God 
(i  John  4:9,  10,  14,  15,  16;  5:1,  4,  5,  10-12). 

4.  Similar  conceptions  occur  in  the  Apocalypse.  Jesus  Christ  has 
conquered  the  satanic  power  of  the  world,  the  dying  throes  of  which  are 
still  manifest  in  the  awful  struggle  between  the  Church  on  the  earth  and 
its  persecutors  (19:20).  Jesus  by  His  resurrection  has  overcome  death 
and  Hades  (20:14),  He  is  the  living  One  (1:18),  the  eternal  Son  of 
God  (2:18),  the  Beginning  of  the  creation  of  God  (3:14).  the  Divine 
Word  (19:13),  the  Lamb  of  God  slain  (29  times  in  Rev.)  who  has  re- 
deemed the  saints  to  an  inheritance  in  the  new  Jerusalem,  and  the  Judge 
of  all  (3:5,  12,  14-22).  No  more  triumphant  and  beautiful  conclusion 
for  the  gospel  could  be  conceived  than  the  last  two  chapters  of  Revela- 
tion, in  which  a  glorious  imagination  leads  us  through  the  city  of  God, 
where  mercy  and  truth  are  met  together ;  righteousness  and  peace  have 
kissed  each  other. 

116 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   1 6:    The  Manifold  Gospel 


Seventh  Day  :     The  Gospel  and  the  Terms  on  Which  It 

IS  Received 

1.  Like  a  beam  of  light  Jesus  Christ  irradiates  the  New  Testament, 
but  each  writer's  experience  was  a  prism  through  which  a  pure  color  is 
refracted.  All  the  epistles,  different  as  they  are,  assume  that  the  teach- 
ing they  set  forth  is  the  mind  of  Christ.  They  profess  merely  to  eluci- 
date what  Jesus  Christ  was.  The  mind  of  Christ  according  to  Paul  con- 
sists in  His  self-abasement  for  our  sakes,  the  infinitely  rich  one  having 
become  poor  (Phil.  2:6-11)  ;  according  to  Hebrews  it  was  His  obedience 
to  the  will  of  His  Father  in  offering  His  human  nature  as  a  sacrifice 
for  sin  (Heb.  10:5-14;  9:14);  according  to  John  it  was  His  love  as 
shown  in  His  delight  to  do  the  will  of  His  Father  by  laying  down  His 
life  for  the  world  (John  10:17,  18)  ;  according  to  Peter  it  was  also  that 
the  Christ  suffered  in  the  flesh  on  our  behalf  (i  Peter  4:1);  and  all 
these  agree  with  the  synoptic  gospels,  which  portray  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Servant  of  the  Lord,  the  law  of  whose  kingdom  is  that  rank  goes  with 
service  (Mark  8:34,  35  ;  10:45). 

2.  What  then  is  this  gospel,  this  faith  that  overcometh  the  world? 
(i  John  5:4.)  It  is  all  summed  up  in  that  Person,  Jesus  Christ.  He  is 
not  to  be  accounted  for  as  other  human  beings  are,  for  He  does_  not  be- 
long to  this  realm.  He  comes  from  another  world,  bringing  with  Him 
a  true  knowledge  of  our  unseen  Father  and  of  His  purposes  with  the 
world  of  men.  His  sojourn  on  earth  in  a  true  human  nature  revealed 
to  us  the  perfection  and  sympathy  of  God.  His  death  showed  forth  His 
love  and  holiness.  His  resurrection  proved  His  power,  and  giving  the 
world  a  glimpse  of  His  essential  majesty  was  also  a  promise  of  the 
future.  The  unseen  is  no  longer  to  be  feared,  for  it  is  the  home  where 
Christ  is  even  now ;  and  through  those  realms  a  pierced  human  hand  will 
ever  lead  us,  for  Jesus  Christ  will  always  reflect  for  us  in  His  human 
face  all  the  glory  of  God  that  it  will  be  possible  for  human  beings  to 
contemplate.  Jesus  Christ  an  eternal  living  Person  is  thus  the  Word  of 
God  to  the  world  of  men.  Through  Him  the  Spirit  of  God  comes  to  us 
reconciling  us  to  God  and  making  us  His  sons. 

3.  The  terms  on  which  man  receives  this  gospel  are  faith,  love,  trust, 
or  obedience  (see  Study  6,  6th  and  7th  days).  These  are  really  the  same, 
and  denote  the  attitude  of  mind  or  will  whereby  we  allow  this  great 
Person  to  lead  us  into  the  presence  of  God.  The  first  disciples  came  to 
Jesus  and  abode  with  Him  (John  i : 35-49),  they  obeyed  Him  (Mark  10: 
28),  they  learned  from  Him  how  to  pray  (Luke  11  :i),  they  trusted  Him 
even  when  they  could  not  understand  (Mark  8:32,  33;  9:24;  Luke  9:23; 
John  14:1,  R.  V.  margin).  So  we  to-day  shall  discover  that  Jesus  will 
lift  us  out  of  our  old  life,  bring  us  pardon,  and  introduce  us  as  holy 
worshipers  into  the  presence  of  God,  if  we  pray  to  Him.  seek  to  have 
His  mind  in  us,  and  do  His  will  which  is  love  to  God  and  man. 


"7 


PART  III. 


THE   CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  GOSPEL 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   17:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


First  Day  :     The  Jesus  of  History  According  to 
Naturalism 

1.  We  have  seen  the  richness  and  power  of  the  Christians'  life,  and 
their  belief  that  nothing  less  than  their  gospel  of  the  supernatural  Christ 
was  commensurate  with  their  extraordinary  experience.  Their  con- 
ceptions were  very  daring,  for  no  figure  more  majestic  could  be  con- 
ceived than  their  Lord  who  was  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life,  whose 
death  on  the  cross  had  made  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins  possible,  whose 
resurrection  had  demonstrated  that  He  was  the  eternal  Son  of  God, 
whose  Spirit  was  in  their  midst,  and  who  would  return  to  be  the  Judge 
of  the  world. 

2.  We  may  by  way  of  contrast  consider  the  explanation  of  the  rise 
of  the  Christian  gospel  which  naturalism  supplies.  We  are  told  that  "no 
process  of  criticism  can  restore  the  ipsissima  verba  of  Jesus,"  and  that 
only  five  or  ten  sayings  and  events  of  the  gospels  can  be  relied  on  as 
absolutely  credible  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  articles  "Son  of  Man"  and 
"Gospels").  But  when  this  class  of  critic  unwraps  the  myths,  legends 
and  "church"  conceptions  in  which  Jesus  has  been  embalmed  by  pious 
devotion,  some  such  gaunt  form  as  this  appears,  though  "the  actual  his- 
torical picture  of  Jesus  is  inaccessible." 

3.  Jesus  had  much  sympathy  with  John  the  Baptist,  but  there  is  noth- 
ing historical  in  the  gospel  narratives  of  His  baptism,  and  though  the 
Temptation  may  have  been  an  actual  crisis  in  His  own  life,  it  has  "more 
or  less  mythic  embroidery"  as  it  stands  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  article 
"Temptation  of  Jesus").  Jesus  preached  the  Kingdom  of  God  expect- 
ing at  first  that  His  ideal  would  soon  be  realized  on  earth,  and  by  His 
wonderful  words.  His  great  powers,  and  His  character  He  created  a 
deep  impression.  But  He  never  put  Himself  forward  as  a  part  of  His 
message,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  He  used  the  term  Son  of  Man  of 
Himself  at  all,  and  especially  in  the  earlier  part  of  His  career.  In  fact 
"He  did  not  look  upon  Himself  as  the  absolutely  perfect  Man"  ("En- 
cyclopaedia Biblica,"  article  "Son  of  Man,"  §  47). 

4.  Disillusioned  when  after  a  few  months  of  popularity  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  people  for  Him  began  to  wane.  He  changed  His  teaching  as 
to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  abandoned  any  hope  of  establishing  it  on  earth, 
and  saw  that  a  martyr's  death  was  inevitable.  Then  probably  the  role 
of  Messiah  was  suggested  to  His  mind,  and  He  began  to  prophesy  that 
He  would  return  on  clouds  of  glory  and  inaugurate  a  new  reign  of  God 
from  heaven. 

5.  He  was  put  to  death  and  was  buried,  and  His  body  underwent  de- 
cay, while  His  disciples  returned  to  their  homes  in  Galilee.  Soon,  how- 
ever, stimulated  by  visions  the  origin  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  explain, 
they  came  to  believe  that  He  was  still  alive,  and  would  ere  long  reappear. 
In  this  faith  they  went  forth  to  bid  their  fellow  countrymen  repent  and 
prepare  to  receive  the  returning  Messiah  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  arti- 
cle "Resurrection"). 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   17:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Second  Day:    The  Real  Creators  of  Christianity  Ac- 
cording TO  Naturalism 


1.  But  the  Jesus  of  history  just  outlined  was  far  too  narrowly  Jew- 
ish to  become  the  Lord  of  the  world.  Whether  He  claimed  to  be  the 
Messiah  or  not,  the  gospel  preached  by  the  first  disciples  was  national- 
istic; they  had  no  interest  in  the  outside  world,  and  in  fact  did  not  be- 
lieve that  the  present  age  had  many  years  to  run  (Acts  3:13-26;  5: 
30-32). 

2.  A  change  first  came,  they  tell  us,  with  the  Apostle  Paul,  who  did 
not  know  Jesus  in  the  flesh,  but  through  a  vision  was  persuaded  that 
He  was  the  Messiah  and  Son  of  God,  Saviour  for  Jew  and  Gentile 
(2  Cor.  12:1-10;  Gal.  1:15-17).  The  historic  Jesus  thus  disappears  from 
the  gospel  and  instead  of  His  ethical  message  of  the  kingdom,  and  the 
fervid  preaching  of  His  first  disciples  that  the  Messiah  would  soon  re- 
turn to  judgment,  the  Gentiles  are  taught  Jesus  Christ,  crucified  and 
risen  (i  Cor.  15:1-4).  But  this  gospel  was  just  what  was  needed  to  ap- 
peal to  the  Western  mind,  especially  when  reinforced  by  the  impressive 
personality  of  Paul. 

3.  After  Paul's  death  this  interpretation  of  Christ  spread  rapidly,  till 
at  the  close  of  the  first  century  an  unknown  author,  changing  it  slightly 
to  suit  the  requirements  of  that  age,  gave  it  classic  expression  in  the 
fourth  gospel.  "The  bestowal  upon  Jesus  of  the  title  Son  of  God,  which 
He  did  not  claim,  and  probably  could  not  have  understood,  marked  a 
step  forward.    When  He  was  lifted  up  from  earth  and  made  a  God  He 

drew  all  men  unto  Himself It  may  be  questioned  whether  without 

this  deification  it  would  have  become  historically  possible  for  Him  to 
dispense  His  spiritual  gifts  through  the  ages"  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica," 
"Son  of  God,"  ^  25).  "While  we  may  call  the  fourth  gospel  unhis- 
torical,  we  must  not  forget  that  just  through  its  constructive  work  did 
Christianity  itself  first  become  a  factor  in  history"  (Holtzmann). 

4.  It  is  thus  clear  that  according  to  naturalism  Jesus  is  not  the  sole, 
nor  perhaps  even  the  most  important  factor  in  the  Christianity  of  the 
New  Testament.  All  that  He  did  seems  to  have  been  to  give  a  certain 
impulse  towards  a  higher  and  purer  conception  of  God  and  man.  The 
Christian  gospel  which  converted  the  world  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  Paul, 
and  the  unknown  fourth  evangelist.  Is  it  not  then  one  of  the  injustices 
of  history  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  been  raised  to  such  an  exclusive 
pinnacle? 


122 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   17:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Third  Day  :     The  Testimony  of  Paul  as  to  the  Primitive 

Gospel 


1.  The  New  Testament  like  the  rocks  carries  in  itself  sure  traces  of 
its  age,  parts  being  undoubtedly  early.  It  will  not  permit  the  assumption 
of  a  "Christ  of  the  Church"  without  sufficient  spiritual  antecedents. 
When  we  read  the  undisputed  epistles  of  Paul  we  discover  that  the  gos- 
pel which  absorbed  his  interest  had  been  in  existence  before  he  was 
converted.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  earnestness  of  Gal.  2:2-10  un- 
less the  most  influential  section  of  Christendom  felt  that  it  owed  nothing 
to  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles?  That  section  carried  with  it  the  prestige 
of  primitive  faith.  They  were  the  authorities  (Gal.  i :  17  ;  2  : 6 ;  cf.  i  Cor. 
1:12;  2  Cor.  ii:i6flf.).  Yet  Paul  asserts  vehemently  that  there  is  and 
can  be  only  one  gospel,  and  that  the  Jerusalem  apostles  agreed  with 
him  therein  (Gal.  1:9;  2:7-9). 

2.  And  in  writing  to  the  Romans,  a  church  with  the  founding  and 
promotion  of  which  he  had  nothing  to  do  (Rom.  i  :8-i5),  and  which  was 
at  the  time  he  wrote  famous  throughout  Christendom,  Paul  sends  them 
the  most  elaborate  account  of  his  gospel,  not  as  something  new,  but  as 
a  gift  in  which  they  might  rejoice  (Rom.  1:15-17).  Does  not  Rom.  6: 
17  involve  that  the  gospel  had  taken  a  definite  shape,  different  in  no 
essentials  from  what  they  then  believed  before  the  church  of  Rome  was 
founded?  Not  improbably  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  overestimate  the 
influence  of  Paul  upon  the  early  Church,  but  this  is  not  because  he  as- 
serts his  preeminence.  Nowhere  does  he  appear  except  as  loyal  to  the 
whole  brotherhood,  none  insists  more  strongly  than  he  upon  the  unity 
of  the  Body  of  Christ  (Gal.  2:2;  Eph.  passim).  But  he  also  is  em- 
phatic that  the  essentials  of  the  one  gospel  came  to  him  not  from  tradi- 
tion but  from  the  risen  Christ  (Gal.  1:1). 

4.  Here  then  we  have  solid  ground  from  which  to  take  a  survey  of 
early  Christian  beliefs.  For  this  letter  which  contains  his  testimony, 
though  possibly  dating  as  late  as  57,  carries  us  back  at  least  fifteen,  per- 
haps twenty  years  (Gal.  1:18 — 2:1),  the  tendency  of  recent  criticism 
being  to  place  Paul's  conversion  shortly  after  the  death  of  Jesus.  Thus 
the  essentials  of  Paul's  gospel,  which  according  to  his  own  testimony 
not  only  remained  unchanged  but  were  accepted  by  the  other  apostles, 
were  preached  within  a  decade  of  Christ's  death  in  various  parts  of  the 
civilized  world. 


123 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   1 7:     The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Fourth  Day  :     The  Earliest  Gospel 

1.  Have  we  any  traces  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament  as  to  the 
substance  of  this  pre-Pauline  gospel?  It  is  admitted  by  very  radical 
critics  that  the  discourses  of  Peter  in  Acts  contain  authentic  accounts 
of  primitive  Christian  beliefs  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  article  "Acts  of 
the  Apostles,"  g  14).  (See  especially  Acts  2:22-36;  3:13-26;  4:10-12; 
5:29-32.)  Jesus  is  the  risen  Lord,  the  Prince  of  Life,  the  Saviour,  the 
Servant  whose  death  has  brought  forgiveness,  the  Messiah  who  fulfills 
prophecy,  and  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead  (Acts  10:36-43).  This  con- 
tains all  the  fundamental  beliefs  that  are  more  fully  developed  in  the 
epistles. 

2.  A  very  great  deal  lies  behind  the  use  of  the  word  "Lord"  as  ap- 
plied to  Jesus  (Acts  2:36),  and  is  implied  in  the  worship  of  Jesus  (Acts 
7:59).  The  brethren  glorify  the  Man  Jesus  though  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Jew  the  deification  of  the  creature  is  the  height  of  blasphemy.  But  in 
the  New  Testament  it  is  impossible  to  trace  any  gradual  process  from 
hero  worship  into  deification  and  finally  into  the  entirely  transcendental 
Person  of  the  epistles.  The  earliest  Christian  worship  involves  funda- 
mentally the  same  view  of  Christ  that  comes  in  later  teaching.  Further, 
in  Acts  and  Paul  and  the  other  epistles  this  object  of  divine  worship  is 
the  Jesus  who  once  lived  on  earth  (Acts  4:10;  10:37,  38;  Phil.  2:5-11). 

3.  These  words  of  one  who  belongs  to  the  radical  wing  of  critics  are 
important:  "It  was  quite  natural  that  prayers  should  be  ofifered  up  to 
God  by  Jesus,  with  Jesus,  in  Jesus,  and  very  little  time  can  have  elapsed 
before  prayers  were  poured  forth  to  Jesus  Himself,  if  indeed  this  was 
not  done  from  the  beginning,  inasmuch  as  He  was  ever  present  with  His 
own,  ready  to  hear  and  able  to  grant  their  requests.  In  truth  one  is  at  a 
loss  to  see  how  Christianity  could  have  failed  to  be  the  worship  of 
Christ,  and  it  is  nowise  rash  to  hold  that  their  worship  in  a  certain 
sense  preceded,  sustained  and  inspired  the  work  of  Christian  thought 
respecting  the  person  of  the  Redeemer.  The  Christian's  conversation 
was  with  his  Lord  in  heaven ;  if  he  distinguished  God  from  his  Christ 
he  none  the  less  beheld  God  in  his  Christ,  so  close  and  indissoluble  was 
the  union  of  the  two;  he  prayed  to  God  in  praying  to  Christ,  though  the 
solemn  supplications  of  the  congregation  were  addressed  to  God  through 
Christ.  Jesus  was,  as  it  were,  the  face  of  God  turned  towards  man. 
Christian  piety  went  on  placing  the  Saviour  at  the  highest  pinnacle  of 
glory,  seeking  and  finding  God  in  Him,  adoring  Him  in  heaven  and 
striving  to  imitate  the  example  He  had  set  it  upon  earth,  and  drawing 
its  force  from  this  twofold  character  of  its  object,  the  divine  and  the 
human"  (Loisy,  "L'Evangile  et  I'Eglise."  251.  252,  3d  edition).  Is  not  the 
most  reasonable  explanation  of  this  given  in  Luke  24:45-49;  John  20: 
26-29?  On  this  subject  the  reader  of  German  may  consult  T.  Zahn's 
essay  on  "Die  Anbetung  Jesu  im  Zeitalter  der  Apostel"  in  his  "Skizzen 
aus  dem  Leben  der  Alten  Kirche." 


T24 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   17:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Fifth  Day:     Results  of  Recent  Criticism  of  the 
Synoptic  Gospels 

1.  On  turning  to  the  results  of  the  sanest  modern  scholarship  with 
respect  to  our  gospels,  it  is  not  hard  to  see  that  they  increase  the  diffi- 
culties of  a  naturalistic  interpretation  of  the  Person  of  Christ,  but  sup- 
port the  apostolic  view  which  has  already  been  studied.  These  points 
seem  to  be  agreed  upon. 

2.  (a)  At  the  basis  of  our  present  synoptic  gospels  there  lie  two 
written  apostolic  sources — a  Petrine  tradition,  which  is  represented  most 
fully  by  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  and  a  Matthsean  collection  of  the  dis- 
courses of  Jesus,  from  which  the  gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke  take 
their  words  of  the  Lord. 

3.  _  (b)  The  most  authentic  portions  of  the  gospels  according  to 
criticism  are  the  material  common  to  the  three  gospels,  and  the  say- 
ings common  to  Matthew  and  Luke.  Now  in  these  are  included  the 
greatest  works  and  the  highest  claims  of  Jesus  (Mark  1:9-11;  2:5,  20, 
28;  4:35-41;  5:1-20,  21-43;  6:31-44;  8:27-31;  9:2-8;  12:35-37;  Matt. 
11:27).  These  are  only  the  most  important  passages  of  a  great  deal 
of  common  material,  but  they  cover  the  stupendous  facts  of  Christ's  life. 

4.  (c)  Our  present  Gospel  of  Mark,  if  not  the  earliest  of  the  three 
gospels,  most  certainly  gives  the  closest  reproduction  of  the  living 
Petrine  tradition,  which  was  widespread  in  the  Church,  and  which  is 
embodied  also  in  our  gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke.  In  its  present 
shape  our  second  gospel  bears  the  stamp  of  a  writer  who  was  in  thor- 
ough sympathy  with  the  Christ  of  the  Pauline  epistles.  It  is  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  the  supernatural  Person,  the  Son  of  God,  whose  life  is  a 
manifestation  of  divine  power.  His  knowledge  is  more  than  human, 
demons  worship  Him,  He  forgives  sins,  foretells  His  violent  death 
(2:20),  and  has  divine  homage  paid  Him  (15:39). 

5.  (d)  There  is  a  growing  tendency  to  hold  that  each  of  the  gospels 
as  they  now  stand  was  written  independently  of  the  others.  The  author 
of  Luke  can  hardly  have  been  acquainted  with  our  Gospel  of  Matthew, 
and  it  is  improbable  that  either  gospel  owes  anything  to  the  Gospel  of 
Mark  in  its  present  shape.  Their  similarities  are  due  to  common  apos- 
tolic sources.  So  apart  from  these  they  are  in  their  aims  and  emphasis 
three  independent  narratives  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 


125 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   17:     The  Trustworthiness  of  Our  Gospels 


Sixth  Day  :    The  Character  of  Jesus  is  the  Greatest 
Miracle  in  the  Gospels 


1.  What  is  the  fundamental  characteristic  of  the  Person  of  Jesus 
Christ?  He  is  One  who  combines  excessive  claims  as  to  divine  nature 
with  surpassing  self-sacrifice  in  a  true  human  life.  His  love  to  the 
world  of  men  is  such  as  had  never  before  been  known,  but  the  marvel 
of  the  sacrifice,  according  to  gospels  and  epistles,  arises  from  the  sin- 
lessness  and  transcendent  dignity  of  Him  who  thus  gives  Himself  for 
men.  It  is  because  He  is  the  Son  of  God  that  the  death  of  the  cross  is 
the  heart  of  the  gospel  (Phil.  2:5-11;  John  10:17,  18;  Heb.  1:1-3; 
I  Peter  1:19,  20).  It  is  because  of  the  character  and  majesty  of  the 
Son  of  Man  that  His  service  on  earth  is  so  priceless  (Mark  10:45).  AH 
the  details  of  the  synoptic  gospels  are  so  handled  by  their  authors  as  to 
throw  into  relief  this  quality  of  person  in  the  historic  Jesus. 

2.  But  this  insuperable  diflficulty  is  also  presented  to  naturalism — the 
character  of  the  Jesus  of  our  present  gospels.  Admittedly  the  figure 
in  the  gospels  is  the  most  perfect  Person  that  has  ever  been  delineated. 
Yet  the  picture  is  painted  out  of  the  most  commonplace  colors,  and  on 
the  simplest  possible  background.  It  is  a  mere  peasant  life  in  the  ob- 
scure province  of  Palestine.  There  was  nothing  in  the  people,  their  in- 
terests, or  their  political  life  to  catch  the  imagination  of  the  world;  but 
out  of  these  surroundings  there  arises,  without  the  slightest  straining 
after  effect,  a  Person  who  lives  forever  in  the  world's  heart.  The 
deepest  truths  of  religion  are  expressed  in  the  story  of  the  simplest  life. 
His  death,  the  degrading  execution  of  a  criminal  sentence,  becomes  in- 
vested for  the  world  with  far  more  than  the  sacredness  of  martyrdom, 
or  pity  for  a  miscarriage  of  justice. 

3.  Finally  there  is  not  felt  to  be  any  moral  incongruity  on  the  part 
of  Jesus  in  asserting  divine  prerogatives.  He  remains  a  marvel  of  hu- 
mility even  when  He  calls  all  men  to  Himself.  He  does  not  appear  ab- 
surd in  stepping  beyond  the  limits  of  mortal  humanity.  Instead  of  de- 
grading the  conception  of  God  when  He  claims  to  be  divine,  there  is 
nowhere  a  purer  monotheism  nor  a  loftier  view  of  the  fatherhood  of 
God  than  just  in  those  parts  of  the  gospels  where  the  transcendent  per- 
sonality of  Jesus  is  most  distinctly  portrayed  (John  4:10-26;  14:1-24). 
(On  this  subject  see  Fairbairn's  "Philosophy  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
Book  II.,  Part  i,  Chs.  1-3.) 


126 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   17:    The  Trustworthiness  of  Our  Gospels 


Seventh  Day:    The  Results  of  Criticism  Make  the 
Naturalistic  View  of  Jesus  More  Difficult 


1.  Now  this  Person  of  Jesus  would  be  sufficiently  marvelous  if  there 
were  only  one  gospel  in  which  it  was  depicted,  but  when  we  consider 
the  features  of  the  present  synoptic  gospels  and  the  results  of  the 
critical  hypothesis  now  in  most  vogue,  the  difficulties  of  naturalism  are 
vastly  increased. 

2.  If  we  accept  the  results  already  outlined,  it  is  evident  that  the 
figure  of  Jesus  Christ  as  He  is  in  the  synoptics  already  dominated  the 
sources  which  their  writers  used,  and  these  sources  came  from  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  Matthew.  So  we  have  in  our  present  gospels  the  tes- 
timony of  two  of  the  best  possible  witnesses  of  the  life  of  Jesus. 

3.  But  the  influence  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  confined  to 
the  material  which  is  common  to  the  three  synoptics,  or  even  to  two,  and 
which  accordingly  is  usually  assigned  to  these  apostolic  sources.  Many 
of  the  incidents  peculiar  to  one  gospel,  which  therefore  cannot  perhaps 
be  assumed  to  belong  to  such  widespread  tradition,  but  may  have  been 
gathered  from  a  source  known  only  to  one  evangelist,  are  imbued  as 
deeply  with  the  Spirit  of  Jesus — that  blending  of  divine  majesty  and 
self-sacrificing  love  in  a  perfectly  human  life — as  any  parts  of  the  gos- 
pels (Matt.  11:28-30;  16:17-20;  25:31-46;  Luke  7:36-50;  23:27-32,  34, 
39-43). 

4.  But  if  the  radical  critic  asserts  that  we  are  too  credulous  in  hold- 
ing that  there  were  two  apostolic  sources  for  our  gospels,  and  that  we 
must  get  down  to  "the  sources  of  the  sources,"  till  finally  there  will  re- 
main only  nine  passages  which  "might  be  called  the  foundation  pillars 
for  a  truly  scientific  life  of  Jesus"  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  "Gospels," 
§  139),  his  own  position  is  becoming  desperate;  for  he  has  to  explain 
how  the  jejune  and  disappointed  "Jesus  of  naturalism"  grew  into  the 
three  wonderful  independent  portraits  of  our  gospels,  with  aims  so  dif- 
ferent and  meant  for  readers  so  dififerently  circumstanced.  What  spirit 
entered  into  the  souls  of  these  evangelists,  or  into  their  intermediate 
sources,  which  enabled  them  to  change  the  ecstatic  Prophet  of  Galilee 
into  the  divinely  human  perfect  Ideal  of  the  world's  adoration? 


127 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 

(Continued) 


First  Day  :     Naturalism  is  Really  the  Denial  of  the 
Apostolic  View  of  the  Person  of  Christ 

1.  Further,  the  fourth  gospel  must  heighten  our  wonder  at  the 
creative  ingenuity  of  the  early  Christians.  For  the  verdict  of  the 
Church  is  that  the  Johannine  Christ  is  not  discrepant  from  the  synoptic 
Christ.  He  has  appealed  to  the  spiritual  understanding  of  the  body  of 
believers  as  the  same,  though  His  Person  is  portrayed  by  a  more  inti- 
mate and  discerning  interpreter.  No  single  evangelist  can  claim  to  be 
either  the  creator  or  sole  delineator  of  that  harmonious  Figure,  whose 
divine  supremacy  and  power  are  incarnate  in  a  life  of  perfect  human 
love  and  beauty. 

2.  It  must  in  fact  be  admitted  that  every  one  of  our  gospels  as  they 
now  stand  was  written  by  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Divine 
Messiah.  The  task  of  disentangling  the  Jesus  of  history  from  these  nar- 
ratives becomes  hopeless,  for  each  naturalistic  critic  finds  simply  as  much 
in  these  gospels  as  his  preconceived  conception  of  Jesus  will  permit  him 
to  discover,  and  the  tendency  is,  as  we  have  seen,  to  reduce  the  his- 
torical elements  to  a  minimum. 

3.  But  he  is  faced  with  this  formidable  difficulty.  Long  before  any 
of  our  gospel  sources  were  written  down  there  was  the  gospel  that 
Paul  preached,  and  there  was  the  gospel  of  the  Jewish  Christian 
church  which  was  older  than  that  of  Paul,  while  behind  that  we  have 
the  primitive  preaching  of  Peter  outlined  in  Acts.  And  through  all 
these  we  see  not  the  Jesus  of  the  naturalistic  critics,  but  the  super- 
natural Son  of  God,  Saviour  and  Lord. 

4.  Naturalism  is  in  reality  a  denial  of  the  point  of  view  from  which 
the  earliest  known  gospel  was  preached.  It  is  beside  the  mark  to  ap- 
peal to  Paul  in  order  to  show  how  the  gospel  could  become  independent 
of  the  historic  Jesus.  This  will  come  up  more  fully  in  a  later  study. 
Though  Paul  did  think  of  Jesus  as  the  risen  Son  of  God,  there  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  the  background  of  his  thought  the  real  human  life  of 
Jesus  on  earth.  What  has  to  be  explained  is  how  a  Person,  whose  in- 
most quality  and  character  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Christ  of  the 
Pauline  epistles,  is  given  the  splendidly  perfect  human  life  of  the  gos- 
pels. The  actual  gospels  carrying  their  detailed  environment  of  Jesus 
are  far  more  wonderful  than  the  Pauline  epistles.  One  and  the  same 
Person  pervades  gospels  and  epistles.  The  gospels  emphasize  His 
earthly  career,  the  epistles  consider  the  risen  and  eternal  Christ. 


128 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Second  Day  :     The  Miraculous  in  the  Gospels 

1.  It  is  thus  the  simplest  solution  of  the  difficulties  which  emerge 
from  a  consideration  of  our  gospels  if  we  accept  them  as  presenting  a 
trustworthy  portraiture  of  the  Jesus  of  history.  But  does  this  mean 
that  all  the  incidents  in  that  life  are  to  be  accepted  as  historical  also? 
There  are  some  scholars,  who  cannot  fairly  be  classed  as  naturalistic, 
who  yet  hold  that  parts  of  our  gospels  have  been  idealized  under  the  in- 
fluence of  later  church  conceptions  or  legend.  They  find  traces  of  such 
influence  in  the  heightening  of  the  miraculous,  the  narratives  of  the 
birth  and  infancy  of  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  while  they  also  believe 
that  Jesus  was  mistaken  in  His  hope  for  a  speedy  return  in  glory.  We 
shall  consider  these. 

2.  We  are  told  that  Jesus  refused  to  work  "signs"  (Mark  8:12). 
This  agrees  with  the  incident  in  His  temptation  (Matt.  4:5-7).  This 
was  certainly  so,  for  both  in  the  synoptists  and  in  John  He  lays  little 
value  on  the  faith  which  is  based  on  "signs"  (John  2:23,  24).  Jesus 
never  works  miracles  for  display.  They  are  kept  primarily  for  the 
circles  where  there  is  faith,  and  there  they  become  a  part  of  His  gos- 
pel, not  at  all  to  compel  those  to  believe  who  would  not  accept  His 
words.  It  is  impossible  to  separate  the  words  from  the  works  of  Jesus 
and  to  call  only  the  former  historical.  That  is  simply  to  destroy  the 
Jesus  of  the  gospels. 

3.  Nor  is  there  any  historical  justification  for  separating  the  mira- 
cles into  two  classes,  in  order  to  admit  that  Jesus  drove  out  the  de- 
mons and  healed  the  diseased,  but  to  deny  that  He  raised  the  dead, 
stilled  the  storm,  or  fed  the  five  thousand.  The  attempt  is  made  to  ex- 
plain the  nature  miracles  as  embellishments  of  events  due  to  natural 
causes,  or  as  the  outcome  of  figurative  speech,  parable,  or  allegory.  The 
gospels  know  nothing  of  this  distinction.  All  miracles  are  equally  the 
natural  and  masterful  works  of  a  supernatural  Person  (Mark  1:27;  2: 
12;  4:38;  5:23).  It  is  the  Person  rather  than  the  act  who  excites 
wonder. 

4.  Further  the  greatest  miracles  occur  in  the  oldest  part  of  the  gospel 
tradition,  which  the  best  scholarship  to-day  assigns  to  the  Apostle 
Peter.  Thus  the  conception  of  Christ  as  Lord  over  nature  became  em- 
bedded in  the  narrative  of  an  eye-witness  within  twenty-five  years  of 
the  death  of  Jesus. 

5.  In  addition  to  this  the  brethren  themselves  felt  that  they  were  en- 
dued with  supernatural  divine  power.  They  had  the  Holy  Spirit  with 
them,  the  energy  of  God  Himself.  They  believed  that  this  Spirit  was 
the  source  of  their  Lord's  life  on  earth  and  of  His  miraculous  endow- 
ment (Luke  i:  35;  3:22;  10:21).  Miracles  formed  an  essential  element 
in  their  total  impression  of  the  lordship  of  Jesus,  whom  they  invested 
with  all  the  attributes  of  Jehovah.  Did  they  not  contribute  to  this  in- 
vestment ? 


129 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 

Third  Day:     The  Narratives  of  the  Infancy 

1.  The  birth  of  Jesus  by  the  Holy  Spirit  from  a  virgin  mother  (Matt. 
1:18-20;  Luke  1:34,  35)  is  incredible  in  these  days  to  many  who  find 
in  such  a  narrative  not  only  a  phenomenon  without  any  precedent,  but  one 
which  seems  to  them  to  rob  Jesus  of  His  human  nature.  Of  late  the 
criticism  of  the  portions  of  the  gospels  in  which  this  event  is  embedded 
has  become  very  acute.  But  the  negative  criticism  has  been  more  suc- 
cessful as  usual  in  the  destructive  process  than  in  its  constructive  theo- 
ries to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  records. 

2.  These  are  the  chief  arguments  against  the  virgin  birth:  (a)  It 
is  not  referred  to  in  Mark,  the  earliest  gospel,  in  the  gospel  of  John,  nor 
in  any  of  the  epistles,  (b)  The  narratives  of  Matthew  and  Luke  are 
conflicting  and  full  of  legendary  material,  (c)  H  they  are  true  "we 
have  lost  the  Christ  who  can  feel  with  us  because  He  is  one  with  us  in 
physical  structure  and  composition." 

3.  To  these  objections  answer  may  be  made:  (a)  The  subject  matter 
is  not  such  as  would  early  become  current  in  the  gospel,  for  it  would  be 
known  only  to  the  family  circle.  The  fourth  evangelist  omits  it  be- 
cause he  writes  from  his  own  experience  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  (b)  Mat- 
thew and  Luke  are  independent  of  each  other,  and  so  are  two  witnesses 
to  the  story.  In  themselves  the  narratives  which  contain  the  event  bear 
strong  evidence  of  authenticity,  for  they  preserve  for  us  (especially 
Luke)  a  wonderfully  beautiful  and  true  picture  of  the  finest  piety  of 
Israel,  which  had  passed  away  long  before  they  were  written  down 
(Luke  1:46-55,  67-79).  In  these  verses  the  ancient  prophetic  ideal  is 
enshrined  which  disappeared  as  it  was  fulfilled  in  the  gospel.  What 
finer  as  well  as  historically  more  probable  picture  of  the  home  circle  from 
which  the  Messiah  was  to  come  could  be  drawn?  (c)  The  Christ  of  the 
gospels  is  more  than  our  Example.  He  is  Revealer  of  God  and  Re- 
deemer of  men  as  well. 

3.  If  they  are  unhistorical,  whence  did  the  narratives  come?  Critics 
are  hopelessly  at  variance.  Some  say  from  a  Jewish  source,  others  from 
a  Gentile  origin,  (i)  But  they  did  not  spring  from  a  Jewish  source, 
for  (a)  Is.  7:14  is  not  sufficient  to  account  for  the  subsequent  structure, 
especially  as  (b)  the  Hebrew  regarded  marriage  as  honorable  and  vir- 
ginity not  a  peculiar  state  of  blessedness,  and  (c)  the  Messiah,  in  so 
far  as  He  was  a  human  figure,  was  to  be  a  king  of  Davidic  descent  as 
well  as  Son  of  God.  (2)  They  were  not  of  Gentile  origin,  for  the  Chris- 
tian mind  revolted  from  the  polluting  stories  of  the  births  of  demi- 
gods and  heroes,  and  Jesus  was  never  regarded  as  less  than  fully  divine. 
(3)  It  is  not  due  to  dogmatic  motives,  for  it  is  never  used  to  account  for 
the  sinlessncss  of  Jesus,  nor  did  He  deny  His  natural  descent  (Mark  3: 

33-35)- 

4.  The  meaning  of  the  narratives  is  that  Jesus  is  of  supernatural 
origin.  As  he  was  unique  in  His  life  and  resurrection  so  was  He  in  His 
birth.  He  cannot  be  accounted  for  as  other  men  are.  He  was  a  new 
creation,  even  as  He  was  also  the  first  fruits  of  those  that  slept  (i  Cor. 
15:20-22;  Rom.  5:t2-2i).  (On  this  subject  see  W.  M.  Ramsay's  "Was 
Christ  Born  at  Bethlehem?"  Sanday  in  article  "Jesus  Christ,"  Hastings's 
D.  B.  Lobstein's  "Virgin  Birth  of  Christ"  is  the  best  presentation  of  the 
negative  view.  F.  H.  Chase's  "The  Supernatural  Element  in  Our  Lord's 
Earthly  Life"  is  valuable.) 

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Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Fourth  Day:    Was  Jesus  Mistaken  About  the  Future? 


1.  It  is  often  stated  that  Jesus  shared  the  belief  of  His  disciples  that 
He  would  soon  return  on  clouds  of  glory  to  establish  His  kingdom  in 
power,  but  that  in  this  He  was,  like  them,  mistaken.  These  passages 
are  among  others  supposed  to  justify  such  an  opinion  (Mark  9:1;  Matt. 
10:23;  24:32-36;  26:64;  Luke  12:35-40,  46).  In  addition  to  these  words 
there  was  the  widespread  early  belief  of  the  Church  that  Jesus  would  be 
revealed  before  long  in  majesty.  This  we  are  told  is  to  be  explained 
only  by  Jesus  having  taught  it. 

2.  Such  a  view  can  only  be  met  by  somewhat  lengthened  treatment. 
What  was  Jesus'  own  idea  of  the  nature  and  growth  of  its  kingdom? 
(See  Matt.  4:8-10;  10:17-22;  13:24-50;  24:9-14;  Mark  4:26-29;  14:9; 
Luke  17:21.)  From  these  we  gather  that  His  kingdom  was  to  be  the 
spiritual  rule  of  God  within  the  hearts  of  men,  growing  slowly  and  with 
much  opposition,  but  brought  even  at  the  expense  of  persecution  to  the 
outside  world,  and  containing  elements  of  good  and  evil  as  it  found  con- 
crete expression  in  the  earthly  communities  of  His  followers. 

3.  Jesus  taught  that  this  kingdom  was  to  be  the  new  Israel,  and  with 
His  own  rejection  as  Messiah  at  the  hands  of  the  Jewish  hierarchy  and 
their  persecution  of  His  followers,  would  come  divine  judgment  on  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Jewish  nation  as  such.  The  spiritual  Israel,  His  Church, 
would  take  the  place  of  the  old  Israel  (Luke  12:54-59;  19:27,  28,  39-44; 
20:16-19).  Much  anxiety  and  heart  searching  would  thereby  be  caused 
to  His  disciples,  for  they  were  Jews  for  whom  the  nation  had  till  now 
been  the  theocracy ;  and  the  wrench  of  parting  would  be  very  severe. 
It  is  with  this  immediate  trial  in  view  that  Jesus  gives  His  warnings  as 
to  the  future.  His  kingdom  is  not  of  this  earth ;  it  is  not  political ; 
His  followers  must  not  allow  it  to  become  entangled  in  the  national  mis- 
fortunes of  doomed  Judaism.  So  they  are  to  escape  when  they  see  Jeru- 
salem invested  by  armies  (Mark  13:14-23).  His  kingdom  will  outlast 
the  day  of  divine  judgment  on  the  nation  that  has  rejected  its  Messiah 
(Mark  13:7-10). 


131 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Fifth  Day:     Was  Jesus   Mistaken  About  the  Future? 

(Continued.) 


1.  The  disciples  could  as  little  think  of  the  present  world  without 
Jerusalem  and  the  old  nation  of  Jehovah's  choice,  as  the  world  of  the 
middle  ages  could  have  imagined  it  Romeless.  What  would  be  worth 
living  for  on  earth  after  the  destruction  of  Zion?  That  would  be  a  chap- 
ter of  God's  government  closed.  Nothing  more  could  be  done  with  this 
world.  It  was  the  end  of  the  old  dispensation  and  the  beginning  of  a 
new  order  with  a  new  sphere  for  the  final  kingdom.  The  Day  of  the 
Lord  would  have  come. 

2.  But  Jesus  did  not  teach  thus.  He  deals  it  is  true  with  the  fortunes 
that  are  awaiting  His  Jewish  disciples  in  the  national  reverses  so  soon 
to  come,  but  He  tells  them  also  that  the  gospel  has  an  earthly  mission 
beyond  Judaism  (Mark  14:9).  Of  its  career  in  that  period  He  says  lit- 
tle or  nothing,  except  that  from  the  day  of  His  death  on  He  will  be 
coming  in  power  to  judge  the  hostile  world  and  to  encourage  His  own 
( Mark  8 :  38 ;  9 :  i ;  Matt.  28 :  18-20) .  He  also  teaches  that  this  world  will 
have  a  catastrophic  ending,  for  when  the  earth  will  have  made  final  trial 
of  the  gospel  and  its  judgment  is  complete.  He  Himself  will  with 
majesty  inaugurate  the  kingdom  in  a  new  sphere  (Mark  13:24-27,  31; 
Matt.  25:31;  26:64).  But  when  that  will  be  not  even  the  Son  of  Man 
knows  (Mark  13:32). 

3.  Much  of  the  imagery  which  Jesus  employs  is  drawn  from  the  Old 
Testament  conception  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord  (Mark  13:24-27;  Isa.  13: 
9-13;  24:21-23;  34:4;  Jer.  4:23ff. ;  Dan.  7:9,  10;  Joel  2:10,  11),  and  it 
is  a  wrong  method  to  interpret  all  His  language  literally.  As  He  used 
parables  and  symbol  to  convey  truths  which  were  beyond  the  compre- 
hension_of  His  followers  at  the  stage  of  their  spiritual  development  in 
Galilee  or  Judsea,  so  He  did  in  regard  to  the  future  of  the  kingdom. 
He  took  the  old  prophetic  terms  which  conveyed  a  permanent  truth  and 
made  them  the  vehicle  of  His  deeper  fulfillment  of  it.  Only  experience 
could  teach  them  all  that  was  wrapped  up  in  them,  and  to-day  we  are  still 
learning  more  of  their  import  than  previous  generations  knew.  This 
was  His  method  in  applying  to  Himself  the  title.  "Son  of  Man."  It 
was  also  His  paedagogical  principle  in  foretelling  the  consummation  of 
His  kingdom  in  the  "Day  of  the  Lord."  Jesus  then  was  not  mistaken 
about  the  future. 


132 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Sixth  Day:     Paul's  Account  of  the  Resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ 

1.  Many  scholars,  who  are  not  inclined  to  deny  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a 
living  Person  to-day  in  a  different  sense  from  the  dead  who  are  even 
now  enjoying  immortality,  assert  that  there  is  so  much  legendary  ma- 
terial woven  into  the  gospel  narratives  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  to 
make  the  event  itself  there  recorded  incredible.  Fortunately  for  us  we 
are  able  to  check  and  elucidate  the  gospel  stories  with  a  very  direct  and 
ample  defence  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  by  Paul  in  i  Cor.  15 : 
1-8,  20,  35-54. 

2.  This  chapter  is  written  to  counteract  the  Greek  notion  prevalent 
in  Corinth  that  the  resurrection  was  a  spiritual  event  already  past,  when 
the  believer  rose  from  his  old  life  in  the  world  to  his  new  life  in  the 
spirit.  The  apostle  bases  all  his  hope  of  his  own  future  life  on  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  (15:12-19).  He  does  not  entertain  the  Pharisaic  view 
of  a  return  from  the  dead  to  present  earthly  conditions,  for  frail,  decay- 
ing flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  that  eternal  kingdom  (15:50).  But 
it  will  be  inherited  by  living  persons  who  have  their  own  former  bodies, 
though  flesh  has  given  way  to  a  new  material  which  cannot  be  described, 
but  will  by  reason  of  God's  infinite  power  be  suitable  to  the  new  spiritual 
sphere  ( 15: 35-49)- 

3.  The  proof  of  this  belief  is  the  fact  that  Jesus  Christ  Himself  died 
and  was  buried  and  rose  (therefore  left  the  grave  empty  15:3,  4).  His 
risen  body  is  the  first  of  the  great  harvest  of  the  resurrection  (15:20). 
But  Paul  never  describes  its  nature.  He  simply  states  that  it  is  the 
most  certain  of  facts  that  He  returned,  and  was  recognized  by  His 
friends  as  an  objective  reality,  and  that  He  held  personal  intercourse 
with  himself  (15:5-10).  No  better  historical  witness  could  be  de- 
manded by  these  Corinthians.  Whether  he  knew  of  the  appearances  to 
the  women  we  cannot  say,  but  their  testimony  would  be  of  small  weight 
with  such  a  church.  However,  He  was  seen  by  the  great  apostle  to 
whom  one  wing  of  this  church  looked  up  (i  Cor.  1:12),  also  by  the 
original  apostolic  body,  then  by  a  multitude  some  of  whom  were  still 
alive,  then  by  the  leader  of  Jewish  Christianity,  again  by  the  apostles, 
and  lastly,  as  though  after  all  the  other  appearances  were  over,  by  the 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  What  better  testimony  could  that  Church,  or  any 
church,  want? 


133 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   1 8:    The  Trustworthiness  of  the  Gospels 


Seventh   Day:     The   Gospel  Narratives  of  the  Resur- 
rection 

1.  On  turning  to  the  gospel  narratives  we  are  faced  with  serious  dif- 
ferences and  difficulties.  How  many  angels  were  at  the  tomb?  (Matt. 
28:2-4;  Mark  16:5;  Luke  24:4.)  To  whom  did  Jesus  first  appear? 
(Matt.  28:9;  John  20:13-16;  Luke  24:34.)  Where  did  Jesus  meet  His 
disciples,  in  Galilee  (Matt.  28:10)  or  in  Jerusalem  (Luke  24:36-43; 
John  20:19),  or  in  both?  (John  21:1.)  A  number  of  these  difficulties 
do  not  defy  reasonable  explanation.  But  what  is  to  be  said  of  Luke  24: 
39-43  when  compared  with  i  Cor.  15:50-53? 

2.  We  have  already  seen  reasons  why  Paul's  list  of  the  appearances 
of  the  risen  Christ  may  not  have  been  exhaustive,  and  he  also  agrees  with 
all  the  gospels  that  the  grave  was  found  empty  on  the  resurrection 
morning.  Whatever  be  the  differences  all  agree  upon  that.  Further, 
to  whomsoever  or  wheresoever  appearances  came,  the  narratives  agree 
that  they  were  objective  manifestations  of  Jesus,  and  that  while  His  ap- 
pearance was  wonderfully  changed,  His  disciples  recognized  Him,  and 
held  real  though  intermittent  fellowship  with  Him.  This  is  also  quite 
in  line  with  the  revelation  which  Paul  received  (i  Cor.  15:8). 

3.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  in  these  narratives  many  de- 
tails which  we  cannot  explain.  And  we  can  easily  see  why.  The  event 
was  so  extraordinary  and  the  emotion  so  intense  that  the  tradition  was 
not  clear.  The  story  would  be  told  in  the  language  and  thought  of  the 
women  or  first  disciples,  who  in  their  bewilderment  might  be  unable  to 
recount  exactly  what  happened.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  most  self- 
consistent  story  is  given  in  the  fourth  gospel  by  one  who_  shows  the 
deepest  spiritual  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of  Christ's  life. 

4.  But  with  all  their  differences  there  is  essential  agreement,  and  the 
very  confusion  is  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  tremendous  fact  with  which 
the  earthly  career  of  Jesus  culminated.  What  finer  harmony  could  be 
found  with  Paul's  thought  than  the  beautiful  stories  of  Luke  24:13-35; 
John  20:1-23?  and  what  truer  explanation  of  his  doctrine  in  2  Cor.  3: 
17,  18  than  the  incidents  of  Luke  24:32;  John  20:21-23? 

5.  Finally  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  required  to  account 
for  the  early  faith  of  the  disciples,  their  life,  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  the 
history  of  the  Church  ever  since.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  whether 
you  judge  by  adequate  human  testimony,  or  by  the  proof  of  history,  no 
event  has  more  sufficient  external  evidence  for  its  objective  reality  than 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from  the  dead. 


134 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


First  Day:     The  Epistles  Demand  the  Christ  of  Our 

Gospels 


1.  The  figure  of  our  gospels  is  also  required  to  account  for  the  epis- 
tles of  the  New  Testament.  In  these  books,  unsurpassed  for  ethical 
power  and  religious  insight,  there  is  a  passionate  love  to  an  invisible  Lord, 
Jesus  Christ.  The  words  come  not  as  moral  commonplaces  or  ethical 
truisms,  but  aglow  with  a  power  that  constrains  attention.  The  writers 
placed  extraordinary  value  on  their  message  because  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  Person  with  whom  it  was  concerned.  Now  the  naturalistic  critic  not 
only  does  not  account  for  our  gospels,  but  he  leaves  the  epistles 
and  their  Christian  life  hanging  in  the  air,  and  quite  unintelligible 
historically.  The  Christian  view  is  that  the  Christ  whose  life  is  accu- 
rately narrated  in  our  gospels  Himself  is  the  reason  for  the  apostolic 
interpretation  of  it  in  the  epistles,  i.  e.,  His  disciples  did  not  misunder- 
stand either  His  Person  or  His  ideals. 

2.  It  is  admitted  that  the  Jesus  of  naturalism  could  not  have  pro- 
duced the  results  which  were  effected  by  the  Christians'  love  to  Christ. 
"It  was  far  easier  for  men  outside  of  Jewry  to  look  upon  the  bearer 
to  them  of  such  treasures  of  life  [those  promised  in  the  gospels]  as  a 
god  than  as  a  mere  man ;  and  even  Hellenistic  Jews  must  translate  His 
personality  into  the  supernatural  to  derive  from  it  such  spiritual  gifts 
as  their  education  had  prepared  them  to  receive"  ("Encyclopaedia 
Biblica,"  "Son  of  God,"  §  25).  In  other  words  the  Christ  of  the  New 
Testament  is  a  sufficient  motive  power  to  have  given  rise  to  the  new 
Christian  life,  the  "historic"  Jesus  was  not. 

3.  Whence  then  came  this  "Christ  of  the  Church,"  the  Jesus  Christ 
of  the  epistles?  From  what  elements  was  this  conception  reared  round 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  a  huge  structure  is  built  about  a  narrow  founda- 
tion, wing  added  to  wing,  story  to  story?  This  constitutes,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  most  acute  problem  of  the  modern  defence  of  our  religion,  for 
what  the  scholar  discovers  to-day  is  proclaimed  on  the  housetops  to- 
morrow, and  ruthless  will  be  the  work  when  reality  strikes  through  the 
gossamer  fabric  of  mere  imagination.  We  need  truth  only  to  bear  the 
burden  of  this  world's  ills.  (Read  Browning's  "Christmas  Eve," 
xiv. — xviii.) 


I3S 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Second  Day:     Not  a  Creation  of  Old  Testament  Con- 
ceptions 

1.  Since  we  are  told  by  naturalism  that  we  cannot  now  with  cer- 
tainty get  to  know  the  historical  Jesus,  but  only  "the  Christ-figure  of  the 
primitive  Christian  faith,"  the  next  step  is  to  account  for  this  creation  it- 
self. For  this  purpose  the  Old  Testament,  contemporary  Jewish  thought, 
Greek,  and  even  Buddhistic  parallels  are  adduced  as  materials  out  of 
which  the  great  Christian  thinkers  wrought  up  the  Jesus  of  history  into 
the  Christ  of  the  Church. 

2.  It  is  true  that  the  Jesus  of  the  New  Testament  is  inexplicable 
apart  from  the  Old  Testament.  Indeed  we  have  already  seen  that  every 
vital  conception  of  Jehovah  is  applied  to  Christ,  and  all  the  spiritual 
prophecies  with  respect  to  the  theocracy  are  shown  to  be  fulfilled  in 
His  kingdom.  The  Old  Testament  is  a  storehouse  of  unsurpassed 
wealth  for  the  student  of  the  New  Testament.  However  different  from 
ours  may  be  the  method  employed  by  writers  of  the  New  Testament  to 
prove  in  detail  that  the  promises  of  the  old  covenant  are  fulfilled  in  the 
New,  it  is  very  evident  that  they  have  penetrated  to  the  living  stream  of 
truth  which  underlies  all  the  history  and  literature  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  they  prove  that  in  quality  it  is  the  same  stream  as  has  found  its  way 
to  the  surface  in  such  overflowing  purity  in  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  It  is  easy  to  unlock  the  secrets  of  the  Old  Testament  when  we 
have  the  historic  Jesus  Christ  as  tbe  Key.  But  it  would  be  impossible 
to  start  from  the  texts  of  the  Old  Testament  and  construct  from  them 
alone  the  Jesus  Christ  of  the  New.  In  fact  Jesus  Himself  was  the  first 
one  to  open  up  the  Scriptures  to  men.  The  voice  of  the  prophets  had 
been  stilled.  The  scribes  had  so  overloaded  the  letter  of  the  books  with 
traditional  interpretations  as  to  bury  the  truth  beneath  their  rubbish. 
Jesus  restores  to  the  people  a  lost  Bible,  speaking  with  authority  as  He 
explains  how  the  eternal  truths  of  prophecy  concerning  the  Servant  of 
the  Lord,  the  remnant  of  true  Israel,  the  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  Man 
and  the  Day  of  the  Lord  came  to  completion  in  Himself. 

4.  Naturalism  assumes  on  the  part  of  the  inspired  and  prophetic 
personalities  of  the  early  Church  the  conviction  that  since  Jesus  was  the 
Messiah  He  must  surpass  in  grandeur  those  great  figures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  Moses  and  Elijah.  So  they  decked  Him  out  in  a  miraculous 
equipment  surpassing  the  powers  of  those  men  of  God.  But  the  old 
recurrent  difficulty  appears,  (a)  Whence  arose  the  majestic,  harmonious 
Person,  the  most  splendid  that  has  ever  entered  into  the  mind  to  con- 
ceive? How  did  the  early  Christians  weave  these  disjointed  prophecies 
of  Ps.  2.  Dan.  7,  and  Isaiah,  together  with  suggestions  from  the  life  and 
work  of  Moses  and  EHiah,  into  that  Son  of  God  whom  the  Church  loved, 
not  as  an  ideal  figure,  but  as  a  living  Person,  with  most  passionate 
devotion,  (b)  How  came  it  that  Jews,  a  people  who  at  this  time  had 
magnified  more  thin  any  other  the  distance  between  God  and  man, 
overcame  their  horror  of  blasphemy,  and  invested  the  Man  Jesus  with 
these  sovereign  attributes  of  Jehovah? 

136 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Third  Day  :    The  Pauline  Christ  not  a  Creation  of 
Jewish  Thought 

1.  It  is  not  denied  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  were  in- 
fluenced by  the  thought  of  their  time.  They  used  the  language  of  their 
contemporaries.  Along  with  this  went  of  necessity  other  conceptions, 
some  of  which  were  directly  transmuted  into  vehicles  for  Christian 
thought,  while  others  were  almost  entirely  transfigured  when  they  be- 
came adjusted  to  the  new  religious  ideas.  The  Pharisaic  system,  for  ex- 
ample, and  the  struggle  for  a  free  gospel  to  the  Gentiles  accounts  largely 
for  the  form  into  which  Paul  threw  some  of  his  epistles.  But  the  kernel 
of  his  gospel  is  not  Pharisaic.  So  also  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the 
Jewish  ritual  becomes  the  foil  for  the  universal  Christian  truths  as  to 
sacrifice  and  worship. 

2.  But  to  say  that  when  Paul  was  once  persuaded  that  Jesus  was  the 
Messiah,  he  drew  from  the  theology  in  which  he  was  educated  the 
principal  strands  for  the  tapestry  upon  which  Jesus  Christ  stands  out  as 
a  glorious  masterpiece  of  his  own  contriving,  is  to  ignore  not  only  his 
own  testimony,  but  the  real  nature  of  current  Jewish  conceptions. 

3.  The  contemporary  Jewish  writings  are  a  bewildering  bundle  of 
materials  from  which  some  parallel  might  be  brought  forward  to  sup- 
port almost  any  doctrine.  Their  Messianic  figure  was  so  indistinct  in  its 
outlines  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  what  was  really  essential  in  it, 
while  some  of  the  Jewish  apocalypses  might  give  ground  to  the  view 
that  the  Messiah  was  hardly  a  part  of  the  hope  of  later  Judaism  (see 
Bousset,  "Die  Religion  des  Judenthums,"  p.  209).  "Of  a  transcendental 
conception  of  His  person,  of  a  conception  of  Him  as  the  bringer  of  a  new 
revelation,  or  indeed  of  a  redemptive,  sin-removing  activity,  there  is 
seldom  a  trace  in  the  average  Jewish  writings"  (218).  "With  perfect 
truth  Dalman  asserts  that  the  thought  of  a  preexistent  Messiah  was 
quite  alien  to  Judaism,  and  that  we  must  be  very  cautious  in  assuming 
that  there  were  ideas  of  preexistence  in  this  conception"  (251). 

4.  Even  if  the  Jewish  speculations  were  richer  than  they  are,  they 
could  not  account  for  the  Christ  of  Paul,  for  He  was  no  complex  of 
ideas,  but  a  living  Person.  Paul  does  not  present  his  gospel  as  a  learned 
teacher,  but  as  an  impassioned  preacher  redeemed  by  grace.  His  own 
life  consists  of  two  halves.  Once  he  lived  as  a  Jew ;  now  he  lives  in 
Christ.  Is  the  language  of  Rom.  5:8;  2  Cor.  5:13-19,  theory,  or  con- 
viction rooted  in  overwhelming  love  ?  Who  ever  loved  a  figure  in  fiction 
as  Paul  or  any  average  Christian  loved  Jesus  Christ? 


137 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study   19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Fourth  Day:     The  Johannine  Christ  is  not  the  Product 
OF  Speculative  Thought. 

1.  It  is  equally  hopeless  to  attempt  a  construction  of  the  Christ  of 
the  fourth  gospel  out  of  Paulinism,  Greek  mysticism,  and  the  Grseco- 
Jewish  philosophy.  Philo  of  Alexandria  was  probably  well-known  to 
some  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  notably  the  author  of  He- 
brews ;  but  his  doctrine  of  the  Logos  is  quite  different  from  what  we 
read  of  the  Divine  Word  in  John  i :  1-18.  In  Greek  philosophy  as  repre- 
sented by  Philo,  the  Logos  is  a  purely  intellectual  conception  arising 
from  the  Greek  view  of  the  contrast  between  matter  and  spirit.  The 
Logos  was  the  personified  divine  reason,  the  concrete  thought  of  God, 
which  seemed  to  serve  as  a  bridge  between  God  and  the  world. 

2.  But  the  case  is  quite  different  with  the  fourth  evangelist.  Unlike 
that  of  the  Greek  schools  his  interest  is  not  in  the  external  world  and  the 
relations  of  finite  and  infinite.  Moral  not  intellectual  difficulties  face  him. 
"World"  for  him  means  "world  of  sinful  men."  What  is  his  view  of 
creation?  (John  1:1-4;  5:17,  19,  20;  17:5,  24.)  Is  its  source  in  reason 
or  in  a  loving  will  ?  Philo  could  never  have  written  John  i :  14.  More- 
over, the  term  Logos  does  not  occur  in  the  gospel  after  the  first  eighteen 
verses.  The  evangelist's  problem  is  to  set  forth  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God  who,  having  created  this  world  of  men,  into  which  sin  has  entered, 
has  by  His  life  and  death  brought  eternal  life  to  those  who  will  believe 
on  Him  (John  20:31). 

3.  The  fourth  evangelist  is  a  lover  not  a  speculative  thinker.  He 
has  discovered  a  Person  who  is  for  him  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the 
Life.  Life  is  his  favorite  word,  a  life  of  love,  and  sacrifice,  and  power, 
found  in  abundance  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  depicted  in  a  thoroughly 
human  form  and  environment.  In  the  profoundest  parts  of  the  gospel 
(13:31 — 17)  there  is  no  trace  of  cold  intellectualism,  but  these  dis- 
courses palpitate  with  the  warmest  personal  emotion. 

4.  Even  the  most  radical  scholars  ("Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  article 
"John,  Son  of  Zebedee,"  §  62)  admit  that  the  conception  of  God  is  inter- 
preted in  the  fourth  gospel  with  a  depth  unmatched  elsewhere.  God 
is  the  loving  Father  who  has  sent  His  Son  to_  redeem  the  world  from 
sin,  the  awfulness  of  which  is  most  vividly  realized  by  the  sensitive  soul 
of  the  evangelist.  Is  not  the  simplest  solution  that  Jesus  Himself  was 
what  John  thought  Him  to  be?  that  the  One  whom  John,  Paul,  and  every 
Christian  writer  adore  was  the  source  of  these  truths  embodied  in  the 
"Christ  of  the  Church"  which  meet  the  permanent  needs  of  men?  (See 
the  remarkable  book,  "The  Character  and  Authorship  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,"  by  J.  Drummond.) 


138 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Fifth   Day:     Jesus   Christ   Revealed   in   the   Christian 

Church 

1.  The  life  of  Jesus  in  Galilee  did  not  exhaust  the  life  of  Christ. 
That  was  but  one  episode  in  His  career.  The  Christ  must  be  read  in  the 
life  of  His  Church,  for  Jesus  in  His  larger  life  has  been  creating  his- 
tory since  the  days  by  the  lake  Gennesaret.  We  cannot  understand  Him 
apart  from  what  He  has  been  doing  through  the  centuries.  His  Church 
is  the  most  marvelous  creation  of  history,  its  growth  being  as  vigorous 
to-day  as  ever. 

2.  It  is  not  right  to  strip  off  all  that  life  and  thought  in  which  the 
gospel  from  the  beginning  down  to  the  present  has  found  expression,  and 
to  place  the  essence  of  the  gospel  in  one  or  two  simple  ethical  maxims 
that  Jesus  preached.  The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  was  promised  by  Jesus  to 
His  followers,  and  we  believe  that  each  age  has  had  a  larger  apprecia- 
tion of  the  truth  of  the  gospel  than  any  that  preceded  it.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  life  incarnate  in  Jesus  is  becoming  plainer  from  century  to 
century  in  the  Church  of  God.  "Particular  and  changing  forms  of  the 
development  of  Christianity  in  so  far  as  they  are  variable  are  not  of  its 
essence  ....  but  it  is  the  general  traits  of  its  figure,  the  elements  of  its 
life,  and  their  characteristic  properties  that  constitute  its  essence,  and  this 
essence  is  unchangeable  like  that  of  a  living  being,  which  is  the  same  as 
long  as  it  lives  and  in  the  measure  of  its  life"  (Loisy). 

3.  But  what  is  the  Church?  Does  it  consist  in  organization,  or  in  a 
common  spiritual  life?  The  answer  to  this  should  be  plain  from  studies 
2  and  3.  In  Eph.  3 :  18  there  are  these  very  significant  words,  "with  all 
the  saints."  Full  knowledge  of  the  Christ  will  not  be  possible  till  the 
roll  of  the  saints  is  complete  and  each  one  tells  his  story.  These  saints 
compose  the  Church.  Its  foundation  is  given  in  Matt.  16:16-18;  i  Cor. 
3:11.  If  Peter  was  the  first  Christian,  the  Church  is  the  body  of  be- 
lievers whose  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  (Eph.  4:3-16).  Therefore 
it  cuts  right  across  religious  denominations.  Unfortunately  a  strange 
delusion  often  blinds  men,  but  wherever  there  is  faith  in  and  love 
towards  Christ  there  is  true  unity  of  spirit.  The  Son  of  man  has  mul- 
titudes of  folds  to-day,  but  only  one  flock  (John  10:16  R.  V.).  God  His 
Father  is  the  great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  the  souls  of  men  (i  Peter  2: 
25),  and  He  chooses  them  from  every  denomination,  many  perhaps  who 
belong  to  none.  This  loyalty  to  the  living  Son  of  Man  which  we  call 
faith  is  the  deepest  motive  in  the  Christian  heart.  It  may  be  as  in- 
tangible as  gravitation,  but  it  is  an  elemental  power  cementing  the 
Kingdom  of  God  whose  foundations  cannot  be  shaken. 


139 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Sixth  Day:    The  Mind  of  Christ  is  Reproduced  in  the 

Believer 

1.  The  Christian  life  and  character  are  a  powerful  proof  of  the  truth 
of  the  apostolic  gospel  because  they  issue  from  devotion  to  Jesus  Christ 
as  He  is  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament.  The  Christian  of  to-day  boasts 
in  the  language  of  Paul  that  he  is  the  slave  of  Christ.  What  must  Christ 
be  if  this  profession  of  servitude  to  Himself  which  His  disciples  have 
acknowledged  through  our  era  has  not  degraded  the  devotees?  Is  any 
mortal  man  sufficiently  perfect,  so  safe  in  his  judgments  and  sympathies 
as  to  be  chosen  for  the  ideal  of  the  race  ?  Why  does  a  man  who  is  wor- 
shiped or  slavishly  followed  so  soon  become  debased  and  degrade  his 
admirers  ? 

2.  But  the  slavery  of  Christ  has  resulted  in  the  highest  freedom  (Gal. 
5 :  13),  and  in  the  truest  and  most  heroic  types  of  manhood.  Frequently 
in  history  it  is  known  that  men  of  power  have  gathered  round  a  hero 
with  boundless  admiration  of  him,  but  the  next  generation  presents  the 
world  with  successors  who,  being  out  of  touch  with  the  living  personality, 
only  copy  slavishly  the  vices  or  the  superficial  virtues  of  their  heroic 
type.  They  fall  into  a  deadly  worship  of  the  letter.  But  jt  is  not  so 
with  Christ.  To-day  He  produces  as  heroic,  original  and  virile  manhood 
as  He  did  in  the  first  century. 

3.  The  worship  of  Jesus  is  not  a  literal  copying  of  His  earthly  life. 
His  surroundings  and  works  in  Galilee  cannot  be  reproduced  to-day.  We 
live  in  a  different  world.  Who  would  profess  to  work  His  miracles,  or 
even  to  apply  every  saying  of  His  literally  to  the  present?  That  life  of 
Galilee  was  not  exhausted  by  its  contemporary  appreciation.  The  teach- 
ing and  principles  of  Christ  are  simple  but  profound,  and  are  to  be 
fathomed  only  by  the  repeated  searchings  of  every  age,  just  as  in  tropical 
seas  there  are  treasures  which  seem  to  lie  within  reach,  but  are  brought 
to  the  surface  only  by  great  toil  in  the  depths. 

4.  The  Christian  character  springs  from  "the  mind  of  Jesus"  (i  Cor. 
2:16;  Phil.  2:5;  Heb.  10:9,  10;  i  John  4:12-17).  This  is  discovered 
chiefly  in  the  gospels,  and  to-day  to  the  great  blessing  of  Christendom 
they  are  being  studied  more  closely  than  ever.  The  dew  seems  to  be 
always  upon  them  as  in  the  morning  of  a  new  day.  These  gospels  make 
the  mind  of  Christ  concrete  to  us.  His  eternal,  loving  Spirit  becomes 
more  real  and  human  to  us,  as  we  listen  to  His  words  and  read  His  char- 
acter in  His  works  and  conduct.  We  follow  in  His  steps  by  allowing 
His  living  Spirit  to  direct  us  in  the  way  that  Jesus  would  walk  were 
He  now  incarnate  again  on  earth  (i  Peter  2:21). 


140 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  19:    The  Christ  of  the  Church 


Seventh  Day:     The  Quality  of  the  Christian  Mind 

1.  The  conception  of  God  in  the  Christian  ideal  is  the  purest  the 
world  has  known.  Notwithstanding  objections  raised  at  times  in  the 
name  of  philosophy,  and  the  age-long  protest  against  deifying  a  man, 
there  flourishes  in  the  Christian  Church,  where  Jesus  Christ  has  always 
been  worshiped  as  divine,  the  richest  and  most  potent  belief  in  God  as 
the  universal  loving  Father,  whose  majesty  is  unapproachable,  and  whose 
life  is  immanent  in  this  world  of  which  He  is  the  Creator  and  Sovereign. 
Deism  has  been  repudiated  by  the  Christian  mind.  Those  who  worship 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  everywhere  believe  in  God  as 
the  one  and  only  wise  God,  the  loving  Father  of  Jew  and  Gentile,  Bar- 
barian, Scythian,  bond  and  free. 

2.  The  Christian  mind  is  possessed  by  an  exceeding  great  sense  of 
sin.  Unquestionably  the  life  of  Christ  on  earth.  His  awful  death  at  the 
hands  of  godless  men,  and  His  resurrection  have  created  in  Christen- 
dom an  intense  conviction  of  the  hideousness  of  sin.  And  this  is  a  dis- 
covery that  each  individual  Christian  must  make  for  himself.  The 
vision  of  the  Christ  has  filled  the  Christian  mind  with  penitential  sorrow, 
which  no  theories  as  to  the  origin  and  nature  of  evil  have  been  able  to 
dispel.  Sin  is  felt  to  be  more  than  ignorance.  It  has  made  a  nest  within 
the  heart,  which  has  poisoned  the  blood  with  its  hatching.  Whenever 
the  Jesus  of  the  gospels  is  preached  the  consciousness  of  guilt  is  deep- 
ened. 

3.  Paradoxical,  however,  as  it  may  appear,  the  perfection  of  Christ's 
character  instead  of  repelling  men  by  the  thought  of  its  being  unattain- 
able has  drawn  the  sinful  towards  Him.  Moral  approach  to  Christ  is 
based  on  penitence.  A  return  to  the  pure  Christ  of  the  gospels  has 
always  meant  an  increasing  ethical  impulse  to  the  Church.  It  is  just 
where  Christ  is  reverenced  as  divine  that  His  life  constitutes  the  ideal. 
His  incomparable  ethical  altitude  becomes  the  source  of  unexampled 
moral  effort.  Those  who  realize  most  vividly  the  awfulness  of  the 
world's  sin  are  least  hopeless  of  it.  So  Jesus  Christ  has  produced  in  the 
Christian  mind  profound  penitence,  but  a  new  and  hopeful  energy  of 
loving  effort  to  reclaim  others.  The  Christian  character  is  thus  dis- 
tinguished by  an  inexhaustible  dynamic  of  love,  flowing  from  the  primal 
act  of  love  revealed  in  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 


141 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  20:    The  Witness  of  the  Works  of  the 
Living  Christ 

First  Day  :    The  Gospel  is  Still  the  Living  Word  of  God 

1.  There  has  been  a  constant  reproduction  of  Christian  character 
down  to  the  present,  as  appears  not  only  from  the  moral  tone  of  the 
Western  world,  but  in  the  spiritual  heroes,  who  in  almost  unbroken 
line  have  succeeded  not  unworthily  the  great  personalities  of  the  apos- 
tolic age.  Origen,  Athanasius,  Augustine,  St.  Francis,  Anselm,  Luther, 
Calvin,  Knox,  Wesley,  Edwards,  and  the  leaders  of  the  modern  mis- 
sionary enterprise  are  a  proof  of  the  unceasing  creative  power  of  the 
gospel. 

2.  More  pervasive,  though  less  tangible,  has  been  the  influence  of  the 
gospel  manifested  by  the  fruitfulness  of  average  lives  in  Christian  graces, 
and  by  the  choice  characters  hidden  away  in  those  quiet  homes,  which 
give  the  nations  their  strength,  and  from  which  their  great  men  come. 
Justice,  purity,  kindliness,  the  basal  virtues  of  Teutonic  and  Anglo-Saxon 
life,  flourish  in  the  godly  households  of  our  Western  world.  (See  Lecky, 
"European  Morals,"  II.,  100.) 

3.  Consider  the  ideals  and  heroes  of  these  countries.  The  Teutonic 
race  of  to-day  has  been  largely  moulded  by  Luther's  Bible,  and  Luther 
is,  in  spite  of  many  other  influences,  the  real  father  of  the  Protestant 
German  people.  Of  England  there  is  no  truer  ideal  than  Alfred  the 
King,  who  loved  to  serve  his  people  and  give  them  the  enlightenment  of 
the  gospel.  Any  nation  is  blessed  which  has  such  a  figure  in  the  back- 
ground of  its  history.  English  literature,  excelled  by  none  in  the  eleva- 
tion of  its  tone,  is  most  truly  national  in  those  writers  who  are  inspired 
by  the  principles  of  the  gospel.  Equally  true  is  this  of  America,  for  the 
noblest  and  most  distinctive  portions  of  her  literature  are  not  only,  like 
that  of  England,  saturated  with  the  Bible,  but  are  creations  of  the 
sturdiest  Puritan  life,  while  her  greatest  heroes  are  sprung  from  re- 
ligious soil.  The  like  holds  true  of  the  Huguenots  of  France,  perhaps  the 
noblest  specimens  of  Western  manhood. 

4.  Further,  the  gospel  has  kept  its  hold  upon  the  growing  mind  and 
thought  of  the  world.  "It  has  fed  the  conscience  and  refined  the  affec- 
tions" of  men  whose  philosophic  or  scientific  theories  may  have  often 
seemed  at  first  to  conflict  with  it.  But  as  truth  has  advanced  the  essence 
of  the  gospel  has  remained  untouched,  some  dogmas  of  theology  merely 
having  suffered  change.  Men  of  the  highest  philosophic  and  scientific 
attainments  remain  as  in  the  past  humble  believers  in  Christ. 

5.  Now  "a  universal  and  continuous  assent  to  any  proposition  is 
prima  facie  a  strong  presumption  in  favor  of  its  truth The  regu- 
lative ideas  of  reason  are  in  fact  the  strongest  forces  in  the  world,  and 
their  power  is  nowhere  more  clearly  traceable  than  in  the  spiritual  his- 
tory of  humanity.  As  regards  conscience  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  as 
man  rises  in  the  scale  of  being  it  becomes  clearer  and  stronger,  rules 
more  effectively  the  whole  mind  and  conduct,  and  gradually  vanquishes 
the  views  of  God,  and  of  God's  relations  to  mankind  which  grieve  and 
offend  it"  (Flint's  "Agnosticism").  But  we  find  the  gospel  to  be  still 
the  strongest  moral  force  among  the  virile  nations  of  the  world,  and 
Christian  thought  adapting  itself  securely  without  loss  of  its  essence  to 
changing  intellectual  conditions.  Is  not  this  a  strong  evidence  that  it  is 
still  the  li7'irig  word  of  God? 

142 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 

Study  20:    The  Witness  of  the  Works  of  the 
Living  Christ 


Second  Day  :     The  Birth  of  Philanthropy 

1.  "The  great  characteristic  of  Christianity  and  the  proof  of  its 
divinity  is  that  it  has  been  the  main  source  of  the  moral  development  of 
Europe"  (Lecky).  "There  can  be  little  doubt  that  for  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  after  its  establishment  in  Europe,  the  Christian  community 
exhibited  a  moral  purity  which,  if  it  has  been  equalled  has  never  for  any 
long  period  been  surpassed  (Lecky,  "European  Morals,"  II.,  11). 

2.  "There  can  be  no  question  that  neither  in  practice  nor  in  theory, 
neither  in  the  institutions  that  were  founded  nor  in  the  place  that  was 
assigned  to  it  in  the  scale  of  duties,  did  charity  in  antiquity  occupy  a 
position  at  all  comparable  to  that  which  it  has  obtained  by  Christianity. 
....  Besides  its  general  influence  in  stimulating  the  affections,  it  effected 
a  complete  revolution  in  this  sphere,  by  regarding  the  poor  as  the  special 
representatives  of  the  Christian  Founder,  and  thus  making  the  love  of 

Christ,  rather  than  the  love  of  man,  the  principle  of  charity A 

Roman  lady,  named  Fabiola,  in  the  fourth  century,  founded  at  Rome  as 
an  act  of  penance,  the  first  public  hospital,  and  the  charity  planted  by 
that  woman's  hand  overspread  the  world,  and  will  alleviate  to  the  end 
of  time  the  darkest  anguish  of  humanity"  (Lecky,  II.,  78,  79,  80). 

3.  Along  with  this  has  gone  the  mitigation  of  cruelty  and  an  increase 
in  the  regard  for  human  life.  The  lot  of  woman  has  been  improved,  and 
the  sacredness  of  the  family  and  of  marriage  greatly  enhanced.  Un- 
questionably this  is  to  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  Slavery 
also  from  being  softened,  as  it  was  at  once  with  the  introduction  of  the 
gospel,  came  to  be  regarded  as  an  outrage  on  the  Christian  conscience, 
and  its  overthrow  in  Great  Britain,  at  least,  may  be  traced  almost  directly 
to  men  whose  motives  were  inspired  by  the  strongest  evangelical  convic- 
tion (see  Morley's  "Gladstone,"  I.,  202,  note). 

4.  These  ameliorations  of  life  were  naturally  confined  at  first  to  the 
home  and  the  nation,  but  as  time  went  on  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
asserted  themselves  in  the  wider  life  of  humanity.     "International  law 

is  based  on  Christian  principles Grotius's  De  Jure  was  an  endeavor 

to  present  in  orderly  and  codified  form  the  customs  and  maxims  which 
had  grown  out  of  the  appreciation  of  Christian  principles"  (article 
"Christianity,"  "Encyclopaedia  Brittanica,"  Ed.  10,  1903)-  To-day  the 
problems  of  human  life  are  still  numerous,  but  progress  is  visible  in  the 
direction  of  the  extension  of  the  principle  of  arbitration  both  to  inter- 
national and  industrial  activities. 

5.  It  is  a  patent  fact  that  of  all  the  forces  which  in  the  past  have 
wrought  towards  these  beneficent  issues,  and  which  are  active  in  the 
present,  none  have  been  greater  than  the  Christian  Church.  Indeed  how 
many  communities  are  there  which  do  not  depend  for  their  most  un- 
tiring workers  in  philanthroDV  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church?     (See  Loring  Brace's  "Gesta  Christi"). 

143 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  20: 


Third  Day:     The  Gospel  a  Perennial  Source  of  Reform 
Within  the  Church 


1.  Objection  is  often  taken  to  the  argument  for  the  proof  of  the  gos- 
pel from  its  effects  in  Christendom  by  referring  to  the  inglorious  record 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Perhaps  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  better  ex- 
pression for  it  than  in  these  words  of  the  impartial  historian,  Lecky: 
"In  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church  the  moral  elevation 
was  extremely  high,  and  was  constantly  appealed  to  as  a  proof  of  the 
divinity  of  the  creed.  In  the  century  before  the  conversion  of  Con- 
stantine  a  marked  depression  was  already  manifest.  The  two  centuries 
after  Constantine  are  uniformly  represented  by  the  Fathers  as  a  period 
of  general  and  scandalous  vice.  The  ecclesiastical  civilization  that  fol- 
lowed, though  not  without  its  distinctive  merits,  assuredly  supplies  no 
justification  of  the  common  boast  about  the  regeneration  of  society  by 
the  Church." 

2.  This  indictment  is  thoroughly  moderate.  But  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  no  severer  criticism  has  ever  been  passed  upon  organized  Chris- 
tianity than  by  members  of  the  Christian  Church.  Never  have  there 
been  voices  wanting  to  protest  against  un-Christian  conduct  within  the 
Church.  Appeal  was  and  still  is  taken  to  the  apostolic  gospel  as  against 
secularized  officialism,  tyrannical  systems,  or  lifeless  creeds.  The  cry, 
"Back  to  the  Gospel,"  or  "Back  to  Christ,"  is  a  healthy  sign  and  the 
proof  of  a  living  Church.  To  think  of  the  reformation  as  having  come 
like  a  bolt  from  the  blue  is  unhistorical.  It  was  the  leaping  into  flame 
of  a  spirit  of  protest  against  distortion  of  the  gospel,  which  had  been 
smouldering  for  centuries  throughout  Western  Christendom.  And 
every  revival  of  religion  since,  e.  g.,  Puritanism  or  Methodism,  has  been 
a  conscious  return  to  some  vital  principle  of  the  apostolic  gospel  which 
had  fallen  into  abeyance. 

3.  Jesus  was  never  wearied  warning  His  followers  that  His  king- 
dom was  not  to  be  furthered  by  the  selfish  principles  of  worldly  govern- 
ments. From  the  day  of  His  temptation  He  kept  this  clearly  before  Him 
(Mark  10:42-45).  Is  it  fair  to  charge  His  gospel  with  failure  when 
selfish  men  using  His  name  and  His  words  but  possessing  little  of  His 
Spirit  have,  in  His  own  despite,  supported  ecclesiastical  or  intellectual 
systems,  which  He  would  either  have  disowned  or  have  regarded  as  in- 
adequate?    (Matt.  7:22,  23). 


144 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  20: 


Fourth  Day:    The  Real  Though  Necessarily  Slow 
Progress  of  the  Gospel 

1.  A  more  modern  objection  to  the  power  of  the  gospel  is  the  sorry 
spectacle  of  the  slums  of  our  cities,  and  our  civic,  national  and  interna- 
tional vices.  The  Mohammedan  will  point  with  scorn  at  our  drunken- 
ness, the  Oriental  at  the  greed  of  Western  peoples,  and  the  thoughtful 
Buddhist  at  our  materialism.  Even  the  Anglo-Saxon  critic,  by  no  means 
always  unsympathetic,  is  often  staggered  by  the  impotency  of  the  gospel 
principles  in  our  modern  life. 

2.  Several  considerations  modify  this  objection.  The  Christian  ideal 
has  made  progress,  and  Christendom,  wherever  the  gospel  as  it  stands 
in  the  New  Testament  has  been  faithfully  proclaimed,  is  far  ahead  of 
the  rest  of  the  world  in  the  moral  ideal  it  sets  before  itself.  The  West- 
ern world,  for  example,  has  a  moral  conscience.  There  is  a  spirit,  often 
indeed  elusive  but  most  real,  which  compels  moral  obligation,  reciprocal 
duties  between  man  and  man,  human  pity,  and  has  made  certain  things 
impossible. 

3.  Those  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  the  gospel  are  the  most  active  in 
facing  the  deplorable  conditions  of  modern  life,  and  their  work  has 
proved  to  be  not  ineffective.  On  none  does  the  weight  of  present  ills 
rest  more  heavily  than  on  those  whose  sense  of  their  shame  is  keenest. 
This  is  a  powerful  motive  for  unflagging  philanthropic  effort 

4.  The  progress  of  the  gospel  is  bound  to  vary  with  the  soil  of  the 
hearts  on  which  the  good  seed  falls.  Jesus  warned  His  disciples  not  to 
be  too  enthusiastic  about  returns.  The  moral  and  spiritual  renewal  of 
the  individual  must  in  most  cases  be  a  slow  displacement  of  old  and 
deeply  ingrained  habits  by  better  conduct. 

5.  Jesus  also  taught  that  the  kingdom  would  be  antagonized  by  a 
virulent  spirit  of  evil.  This  is  evident  in  the  anarchistic  elements  which 
hate  the  gospel,  for  its  success  means  their  annihilation.  Mammon  also 
in  an  infinite  variety  of  shapes  among  rich  and  poor  works  subtly  upon 
the  hearts  of  men.  And  our  lapsed  masses  are  part  of  the  awful  price 
we  are  paying  for  the  mistakes  of  the  Church  in  the  past.  Their  spiritual 
faculties  are  atrophied,  their  religious  natures  paralyzed.  But  the  only 
true  weapon  of  the  gospel  is  its  work  of  love  and  its  appeal  to  the  spirit- 
ual within  the  heart.  Where  this  has  almost  ceased  to  be  responsive  from 
whatever  cause,  it  can  be  but  slowly  recovered,  and  the  delicate  spiritual 
sense  requires  time  to  subdue  the  coarse  elements  of  Mammon  and  self. 
In  some  unfortunately  there  seems  to  be  nothing  but  hatred  of  the  good. 
Did  not  Jesus  Himself  lose  hope  of  some?     (Mark  3:29.) 


145 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study   20: 


Fifth  Day  :     Foreign  Missions  a  Proof  of  the  Vitality  of 

THE  Gospel 

1.  There  is  no  more  encouraging  proof  of  the  vitality  of  the  gospel 
than  the  strong  enthusiasm  with  which  missionary  endeavor  has  been  re- 
born during  the  past  century.  A  faith  that  will  make  sacrifices  is  a  living 
faith.  Missions  show  that  the  gospel  can  still  produce  the  heroic.  The 
principles  of  the  kingdom  enunciated  in  Matt.  16 :  24,  25  ;  19 :  27-30  were 
not  exhausted  in  the  first  century.  Is  this  persistent  heroism  based  on 
delusion?    Are  only  the  selfish  ruled  by  reason? 

2.  The  success  of  missions  may  be  estimated  by  the  reproduction  of 
the  Christian  type  of  character  even  in  the  most  unlikely  quarters.  A 
sense  of  sin  is  created  within  converts  from  heathenism  which  expresses 
itself  naturally  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  a  conscience  regulated  by  the 
authority  of  Jesus  as  a  living  Person,  and  a  character  approximating  in 
its  virtues  to  the  Christian  ideal.  Threadbare  often  enough  the  garment 
of  the  new  man  may  appear  it  is  true,  but  far  oftener  it  is  surprisingly 
rich,  and  in  its  simplicity  puts  to  shame  the  fashions  of  older  communi- 
ties. Above  all  the  old  passionate  love  to  Jesus  the  unseen  Friend,  their 
Redeemer  and  Lord,  is  repeated. 

3.  Multitudes  of  these  converts  to-day  are  winning  their  lives  by 
seeming  to  throw  them  away  in  the  service  of  the  kingdom  or  the  en- 
durance of  persecution  (Luke  21:19).  There  is  the  daring  devotion  of 
the  South  Sea  Islanders,  who  leave  their  homes  and  often  are  martyred 
by  cannibals  in  their  desire  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  white  missionary. 
There  was  the  faithfulness  of  the  Chinese  converts  during  the  late  war, 
and  there  is  the  fact  that  among  the  blacks  of  South  Africa  "the  natives 
who  have  been  educated  in  various  churches  form  an  almost  negligible 
element  in  the  criminal  class."  We  should  not  expect  the  rich  harvest 
of  autumn  fruit,  but  the  tender  shoots  of  Christian  character  are  mani- 
fest on  nearly  every  mission  field. 

4.  The  gospel  also  dispossesses  the  half-truths  of  other  religions  by 
its  fuller  light.  This  effect  is  to  be  marked  not  only  by  direct  con- 
versions, but  by  the  healthier  moral  atmosphere  which  it  creates  in 
heathen  lands.  For  example  in  India,  chiefly  as  a  result  of  missionary 
effort,  the  pagan  spirit  has  become  more  shy  in  professing  its  shameless 
mythology  or  worship.  "Christianity's  method  is  silent,  slow,  certain. 
It  undermines  rather  than  violently  overthrows  old  systems.  It  deals 
with  old  false  beliefs  or  old  evils  which  oppress  mankind  rather  by 
taking  the  spirit  and  life  out  of  them,  by  substituting  something  higher, 
than  by  directly  attacking  them"  (Stewart,  "Dawn  in  Darkest  Africa"). 

146 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 
Study   20: 


Sixth  Day  :     Objections  to  the  Proof  of  the  Gospel  from 

Missions 

1.  But  missions  do  not  lack  critics.  It  is  asserted  that  Christianity 
wins  its  successes  only  in  competition  with  religions  of  inferior  grade. 
Against  Mohammedanism,  e.  g.,  the  gospel  is  said  to  make  little  head- 
way, nay,  indeed,  to  be  outdistanced  by  it  in  overtaking  the  races  of 
Africa.  In  so  far  as  this  is  so  it  is  partly  because  "the  good  is  the 
enemy  of  the  best."  Islam  has  given  these  pagan  races  something  better 
than  they  knew.  But  this  gift  itself  has  made  those  races  more  im- 
pervious to  the  nobler  ethical  ideal  of  the  gospel.  Appealing  to  pride 
and  force,  with  a  simple  conception  of  God,  and  a  few  moral  demands 
so  much  less  stringent  than  those  of  the  Christian  missionary,  Islam 
sterilizes  the  native  mind.  But  if  it  be  gaining  in  Africa,  it  seems  to  be 
undergoing  disintegregation  in  Persia,  while  in  India  Christianity  is  ad- 
vancing in  a  far  greater  ratio  than  the  natural  increase  of  the  population. 

2.  It  is  also  often  urged  that  many  of  the  results,  which  the  Christian 
assigns  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands,  are  in  reality 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  progress  of  Western  thought  and  civilization.  We 
are  not  in  a  position  to  apportion  the  relative  influence  of  education, 
civilization  and  the  gospel,  all  of  them  doubtless  potent  factors  in  the 
upward  trend  of  life.  But  it  may  be  confidently  affirmed  that  the  Hindu 
educated  only  in  secular  Western  beliefs  is  to-day  proving  to  be  a  social 
menace  to  India,  because  he  is  "wandering  between  two  worlds,  one  dead, 
the  other  powerless  to  be  born."  Further,  in  West  Africa  modern  com- 
merce has  really  degraded  the  native  races,  and  "all  modern  experience 
shows  that  civilization  without  Christianity  has  never  civilized  races 
that  have  fallen  to  the  lowest  levels"  (Stewart,  "Dawn  in  Darkest 
Africa"). 

3.  It  is  historically  unjust  to  compare  the  growth  of  modern  missions 
and  the  character  of  the  individual  convert  with  the  results  of  the  first 
preaching  of  the  apostolic  age,  to  the  detriment  of  the  former.  The 
conditions  are  not  similar.  From  Persia  to  the  Western  ocean  the  finest 
moral  elements  of  that  world  worshiped  in  the  synagogues  as  Jews  or 
as  proselytes,  and  from  these  a  steady  stream  poured  into  the  Christian 
Church.  There  was  a  common  language,  common  religious  conceptions, 
and  the  world  was  ready  to  listen.  To-day  the  missionary  goes  to  peo- 
ples to  whose  language  and  ways  he  is  an  alien  with  a  gospel  expressed 
in  terms  of  foreign  thought.  Further,  where  the  people  have  an  inkling 
of  the  new  religion,  they  have  been  in  many  cases  led  to  regard  it  with 
distrust  because  of  the  presence  of  nominal  adherents  whose  conduct, 
whether  in  commerce  or  private  morals,  only  degrades  their  faith.  If 
Christianity  professed  by  white  or  black  is  not  held  as  a  living  faith,  it  is 
soon  worsted  by  the  awful  practice  of  the  unrestrained  natural  man  in 
heathenism. 

147 


The  Truth  of  the  Apostolic  Gospel 


Study  20: 


Seventh  Day  :    The  Gospel  of  the  Missionary  is  the 
Gospel  of  the  New  Testament 

1.  The  uniform  testimony  of  foreign  missionaries  is  that  the  source 
of  their  power  is  the  Jesus  Christ  of  the  New  Testament.  No  class  of 
Christians  accept  Him  more  eagerly  as  their  Lord.  None  lay  greater 
stress  on  His  supernatural  character,  nor  on  the  immense  motive  which 
the  death  of  the  Son  of  God  supplies  for  their  own  life  and  the  winning 
of  converts.  Occasionally  indeed  they  express  their  belief  in  terms 
which  are  crude  and  realistic,  but  therewith  goes  a  prodigious  amount  of 
conviction.  The  educated  man  with  a  critical  philosophical  faculty  sees 
perhaps  only  the  inadequate  expression  of  this  faith,  and  overlooks  the 
immense  dynamic  which  it  commands.  Whatever  there  may  be  of 
theories  or  outgrown  creeds  is  carried  on  the  surface  of  a  glowing  white- 
hot  heart  of  love  towards  the  living  Person,  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  re- 
deemed him.    The  lover  has  insight  into  the  truth  of  the  historic  gospel. 

2.  Missionary  societies  and  the  various  national  institutions  for  the 
spread  of  the  Bible  go  on  the  assumption  that  the  figure  of  Jesus  Christ 
stands  forth  clearly  enough  in  the  gospels  and  epistles  to  enchant  the 
cultured  Brahmin,  the  Chinese  literati,  the  African  villager,  and  the 
cannibals  of  the  South  Seas.  They  believe  that  one  and  the  same  Jesus 
Christ  is  found  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  New  Testament ; 
and  neither  the  promoters  of  these  agencies  nor  their  missionaries  would 
have  dreamt  of  sending  any  other  gospel  than  that  of  Paul  or  John. 
"After  many  years'  trial  in  different  countries,  and  under  every  variety 
of  circumstance  the  Moravian  brethren  have  found  that  the  simple  tes- 
timony of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  told  by  a  missionary  pos- 
sessed by  an  experimental  sense  of  His  love,  has  been  the  most  effectual 
and  certain  means  of  converting  the  heathen"  (Stewart). 

3.  Christianity  claims  to  be  the  absolute  religion  because  it  presents 
to  the  world  the  highest  possible  conception  of  God  as  the  Holy  Father, 
the  noblest  ideal  and  destiny  for  human  nature,  and  the  means  of  real- 
izing this  through  a  living  superhuman  Person,  Jesus  Christ.  By  the 
dynamic  of  His  life  and  the  motive  of  His  love  He  lifts  the  helpless 
world  out  of  its  sin  into  life  eternal.  Revelation  is  of  the  essence  of  the 
gospel.  It  is  supernatural  throughout  in  that  its  truth  is  not  the  result 
of  man's  unaided  devising.  Our  danger  to-day  is  lest  a  narrow  view  of 
nature  should  weaken  our  conviction  in  the  supernatural,  and  that  Chris- 
tianity should  degenerate  into  a  system  of  ethics.  The  sanctions  of 
Christian  morality  have  always  reposed  on  the  tremendous  fact  that  in 
the  historic  gospel  there  is  a  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  died 
and  rose  to  save  the  world  from  sin. 


148 


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